Tax levy decrease proposed in Johnson County budget

IOWA CITY - Johnson County homeowners face slight increases in their county property taxes while many other property owners would see decreases under a budget proposal released Monday for next fiscal year.

The Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing Feb. 29 on the nearly $84 million budget for fiscal 2013, which starts July 1.

It is mostly a status quo budget as the county, like most governmental entities, continues to deal with a tough economy.

“I think we've been extremely frugal in this budget, and I think the bottom line shows that,” said supervisors Chairman Rod Sullivan.

The supervisors are considering decreases in tax levies, but changes in property valuations and an increase in the state-set rollback on residential property will result in many homeowners paying more in county taxes. The rollback, which determines the percentage of a residential property's value that's subject to taxation, is rising from 48.53 percent to 50.75 percent.

The proposed levy for unincorporated areas is $9.84 per $1,000 of taxable value, down from $10.09 this year. The levy for property within city limits would be $6.75, down from $7 this year.

If those figures stand, the owners of a $100,000 home in rural Johnson County would pay $499.31 in county taxes next fiscal year, up $13.05 from this year. Homeowners in cities would pay $342.53, which would be $11.47 more in Iowa City and $17.12 more in other cities.

Owners of $100,000 worth of rural agricultural land, meanwhile, would pay $35.96 less next fiscal year. Agriculture buildings and commercial and industrial properties also would see decreases.

The county's tax askings would increase $954,627, or 2.19 percent, to $44.6 million. More than $499,000 of that increase comes from the budget submitted by the county's joint emergency communications center, which the Board of Supervisors is required to approve.

A majority of the supervisors have continually criticized spending at the communications center. Sullivan said that while the board overseeing the facility significantly reduced the tax increase it initially sought a couple of months ago, most of the supervisors still believe the board does not fully appreciate the consequences of its budgeting.

Johnson County Taxes