*Note: This is a reader-submitted opinion piece. Opinions and letters to the editor can be sent to news@crawfordcountynow.com
Dear Editor,
Since many people agree and disagree with my letters to the editor, I am fine with this. But many in government will not take the time to educate the public on the facts. They are afraid of this or it could do more harm than good. The government is not here to help you, they don’t want to do their jobs, but want you to pay more taxes. November is voting time and you have the right to vote and make your voice heard.
I want to force on the issues and not the candidates. You can vote for the best person who will do the right thing for you. Since the property valuations in Crawford County went up, many of you have got highly upset. Which is your right as a property owner. But I don’t believe that they went up 50%, but they are increasing more. The reason for this, the housing market is part of the problem and the other is that there are people willing to pay more ( I mean a lot more ) than the house is worth. This means that in these zones that the county is broken down in, if someone pays more money, then your property valuation is going up. Even if you didn’t do anything to your property, they can make this happen. Also for some of you that; rent, lease, live in a retired community, or other facility. The property owner will pass this cost on to you !
How, let’s look at the difference between renewal and new / additional tax. The renewal is just the same levy with the same millage. However, you have to look at your other key factors on your property tax card for levies. I know this is confusing but everything goes off of your last tax valuation that the county auditor uses. You have to look at the Tax rate vs. the Effective rate.
Example:
Subdivision Levy type Tax rate Effective Rate %of total Current year Crawford County Children Services voted .500 0.2646 0.58% $ 11.67
Looking at this, you are only paying 0.58% of the original tax rate of .500 mills. You have to know your new property valuation for what you are going to pay. Some people get certain tax breaks for several reasons. The County Auditor doesn’t do this until after the election is over.
Remember, this doesn’t happen on all the levies, you pay the full amount on certain ones.Like school bonds for buildings and other levies . You will pay the same tax until the end of that levy is over ( 20 -30 years ) and charge the full Tax rate on your property valuation each time it goes up.
Let’s look at the new / additional tax. If there is one one of these on the ballot, and if it passes, you will pay the full tax rate over the full term of this levy. So if it’s 4.0 mills for 5 years, you pay the full amount during that 5 years, based on your property valuation. This doesn’t come down until this levy comes up for renewal. So you are paying more taxes on this levy than some other levies. Currently, there are several new additional levies on the ballot for people to vote on.
A person asked me about a school levy that was up for renewal. I told them to look up all the levies that they pay taxes on the county auditor website. They didn’t understand that this school had so many levies that they are paying taxes on. Eight different levies on the books, and one is up for renewal. I explained that all but one is voted on, and this school has over 27.8591 mills ( Effective Rate ) that we pay taxes on currently. I told this person that if we were paying taxes on the original Tax Rate, it would be 55.55 mills ( all together ). This is all according to tax records from the county auditor website. Yes this is unbelievable and why are they saying that the money is running out. I told them to call the school and ask these questions. This person asked me about my thoughts on this. I told them that the school is not being run correctly, too many open enrollment students. These parents don’t pay property taxes to this school, that money goes to the school district in which they live. Yes, they get some money from the state, but not enough. Hence, the taxpayers from this school district are paying the cost for these students. I told them that because my property is split, I pay for two school district’s. I told them to vote the way you can afford to live. Everything keeps going up and the costs are not coming down soon.
In closing, I will leave you with two things. The first one is, who was the person that sent an email to the press trying to stop articles being printed about something? That it would hurt the levies in that area? I wanted to know if there was any truth behind this fact? And the second thing, get out and vote ! Make your voice be heard ! Remember, it is between you and that machine who and what you voted for, nobody else !
Respectfully submitted,
Greg White
1125 Hillcrest Drive
Bucyrus, Ohio 44820