Worth Of A Penny Expected To Drop In Jefferson County

Jefferson County will see a decrease in the property tax worth of a penny in the coming fiscal year, according to information provided to the Jefferson County Budget Committee. Property Tax Assessor Susan Gass addressed the Committee regarding the issue last week, informing them that the tax worth of a penny is expected to drop from $117,000 for the current fiscal year to $116,500 for the 2013-2014 fiscal year. Also expected to impact the budgeting process for the next fiscal year is a lag in sales tax collected in the County. The fiscal year runs from July 1^st through June 30^th and the Budget Committee is already in the process of preparing the County budget. Six out of eight months in the current fiscal year have produced sales tax that is lower than the pervious year. Though there was a slight rebound in December 2012, as well as the first month of the year, the sales tax numbers dropped significantly in February. Calendar year (January-December) to calendar year, however, there has been a steady increase in sales tax in Jefferson County. Despite a dismal economic picture Nationally, Jefferson County has improved their sales tax numbers from $ 8,442,748 in calendar year 2007 to $10,891,687 in 2012. The amount of increase was the slightest between the calendar year 2011 and 2012, when the County collections only improved from $10,800,018 to $10,891,687. The County Budget Committee will access what impact the decrease in the property tax worth of a penny, as well as lagging sales tax collection, will have on the property tax rate for the 2013-2014 fiscal year. Currently, Jefferson County has a $2.05 property tax rate and sits in the lowest 1/3 of property tax rates State wide.