- Boone County lowered its real property tax rate from 8.5 to 8.2 cents per $100 of assessed value.
- Total property assessments increased 6.58% to approximately $25.8 billion, including nearly $350 million in new property.
- The county expects the lower rates to generate about $17.5 million from real and tangible personal property, slightly above its budget projection.
Boone County voted to cut property tax rates amid rising property values throughout the area.
On Tuesday, the Boone County Fiscal Court unanimously voted to reduce the real property tax rate to 8.2 cents per $100 of assessed value, down from 8.5 cents the previous year. Moreover, the court also lowered the tangible personal property rate from 9.5 cents to 9.3 cents.
The county’s motor vehicle tax rate will remain the same at 14.2 cents per $100 valuation.
Boone County Administrator Matthew Webster said the county’s real property tax rate has declined every year since 2014. At that time, the rate was 10.5 cents.
“I’m happy to bring these rates to you,” Boone County Treasurer Lisa Goetz said. “I think it’s good for our citizens.”
Webster reported that Boone County’s total property assessments grew by 6.58%, reaching about $25.8 billion. Assessments of real property went up by 7.89% to nearly $20 billion, while tangible personal property assessments increased by around 5% to nearly $4 billion. Boone County has added approximately $350 million in new property to its tax rolls, according to Webster.
“We were relatively stable with a little bit of growth and coming out of COVID,” Webster said. “We had some smaller years, and we’re kind of now back to a little bit normal trend at just under $350 million of new property this year.”
Webster estimated that the compensating rates would generate about $17.5 million from real and tangible personal property, roughly $195,000 more than the $17.3 million expected in the county’s adopted budget.
Property assessments are determined by the county’s Property Valuation Administrator, or PVA, who is an independent elected official. The PVA is not a Boone County employee and instead operates under the Kentucky Department of Revenue. The Boone County PVA, however, maintains an office at the Boone County Administration Building in Burlington, despite being independent of the county government.
The Kentucky Department of Revenue defines real property as land and any permanently attached structures. Tangible personal property includes physical, taxable items such as manufacturing machinery, artwork, antiques, coin collections, and construction equipment. However, registered cars and watercraft are not classified as tangible personal property.
A compensating tax rate is the rate a taxing authority must set to generate the same revenue from real property as in the previous year. The rate may be higher or lower than the previous year’s rate, depending on changes in property valuations. In Kentucky, compensating rate calculations do not include valuations of new properties within a jurisdiction.
Prior to the fiscal court’s vote, Webster outlined the rate-setting process. The Boone County PVA conducts local property assessments. Afterward, the Kentucky Department of Local Government certifies the county’s tax roll and calculates the compensating and 4% growth rates.
Boone County staff then review these rates against projected budgetary revenues before presenting them to the fiscal court. The fiscal court must adopt the rate within 45 days of certification, or the compensating rate automatically takes effect.
Commissioner Chet Hand noted that the real property tax rate is only part of a Boone County homeowner’s total property tax bill. For instance, the Boone County School District sets its own rates, which residents must pay annually.
“I think this is probably a good opportunity to just bring up and remind everybody the difference between rate and valuation, and we’re only a small chunk of the overall property tax bill that everybody pays,” Hand said.
On August 13, Boone County Schools proposed lowering its real property tax rate from 65.5 to 64.6 cents per $100 of assessed value, while keeping the personal property rate at 65.5 cents. Despite the lower proposed rate, rising property values would allow the district to collect 4% more property tax revenue than last year.
