Boone County Council 2021 Budget

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Overview

The Boone County Council adopted on September 8, 2020, three separate ordinances authorizing the issuance of three bond series in an aggregate amount not to exceed $2 million for the Series A bond, $2 million for the Series B bond, and $1.35 million for the Series C bond for the purpose of providing funds for the costs of the construction of three separate bridge or culvert improvement projects ("together with all necessary appurtenances, related improvements and equipment, to fund capitalized interest, if necessary, and to pay the costs of issuance of each bond"). A bridge is defined as any structure with a span equal to or greater than 20 feet. The Boone County definition of a culvert (or small structure) is a drainage structure that has two open ends and a span under 20 feet down to 4 feet.

Each of the three bonds, which together total $5.35 million, "is to be payable from property taxes levied and collected on all taxable property" in Boone County. The bonds will have a 10-year maturity date.

The decision has been made to spend $900,000 from the county's $4.6 million Rainy Day Fund on the 2021 county budget. No amount will be allocated from the remaining $3.7 million Rainy Day Fund to pay for any bridge or culvert improvements so the $5.35 million bonds amount can be reduced - the remaining $3.7 million in the Rainy Day Fund will be retained to maintain future county services if there is an ongoing reduction in county revenues.

The decision has been made to increase 2021 Boone County property taxes during a pandemic to pay for the bridge and culvert bond issues that total $5.35. million.

Indiana County Property Tax Levies Comparison

The Boone County Council emphasized during the $5.35 million bond issues approval process that the county's property tax rate is the lowest of all the 92 Indiana counties. The implication is that the Boone County Council has done a better job of managing property taxes than any other Indiana County.

Knowledgeable taxpayers know that comparing property tax rates is not a good way to evaluate a county's property tax management. A much better comparison is a per capita comparison of property tax levies. Listed next is the per capital comparison of the 2020 general property tax levies of all 92 Indiana counties.

2020 Certified General Property Tax Levies
Indiana County Governments
Per Capita Comparison

Sources:
(1) Indiana Gateway Report Search at https://gateway.ifionline.org/report_builder/
for Budgets, Certified Budget Comparison, Year 2020, Unit Type County, Fund Total All Funds, Dataset Levy
(2) 2020 county population projections from http://www.stats.indiana.edu/pop_proj/

County	Levy	Population	Levy Per Citizen

1. Floyd	$9,114,280	78,826	$115.63
2. Wells	$3,522,431	28,185	$124.98
3. Morgan	$9,260,661	70,302	$131.73
4. Johnson	$22,613,065	158,713	$142.48
5. Putnam	$5,376,034	37,486	$143.41
6. Ripley	$4,275,709	28,904	$147.93
7. Hancock	$11,992,352	76,353	$157.06
8. Monroe	$23,888,260	150,620	$158.60
9. Clay	$4,270,865	26,382	$161.89
10. Orange	$3,164,091	19,406	$163.05
11. Boone	$11,520,156	70,556	$163.28
12. Franklin	$3,797,659	22,863	$166.11
13.Wabash	$5,199,496	31,165	$166.84
14.Tippecanoe	$33,602,705	195,555	$171.83
15. Hendricks	$29,466,633	170,323	$173.00
16. Marion	$166,801,304	963,732	$173.08
17. Kosciusko	$14,184,175	80,154	$176.96
18. Harrison	$7,375,944	40,636	$181.51
19. Lagrange	$7,306,100	39,848	$183.35
20.Jennings	$5,043,301	27,353	$184.38
21. Owen	$3,734,887	20,160	$185.26
22. Hamilton	$64,831,084	343,179	$188.91
23. Shelby	$8,643,959	44,600	$193.81
24. Noble	$9,426,866	48,185	$195.64
25. Dubois	$8,474,684	43,133	$196.48
26. Carroll	$3,840,195	19,509	$196.84
27. Lawrence	$8,934,109	45,075	$198.21
28. Whitley	$6,826,706	33,539	$203.55
29. Jackson	$9,185,080	45,026	$204.00
30. Clark	$24,474,665	119,944	$204.05
31. Scott	$4,812,930	23,507	$204.74
32. Martin	$2,110,238	10,236	$206.16
33. Elkhart	$43,440,333	209,690	$207.16
34. Marshall	$9,725,087	46,879	$207.45
35. Ohio	$1,241,722	5,905	$210.28
36. Perry	$4,082,112	19,216	$212.43
37. Miami	$7,456,435	35,095	$212.46
38. Madison	$27,395,732	127,604	$214.69
39. Parke	$3,561,181	16,565	$214.98
40. Jasper	$7,365,869	33,879	$217.42
41. Allen	$82,578,694	379,671	$217.50
42. Greene	$7,017,241	31,803	$220.65
43. Starke	$5,082,874	22,595	$224.96
ALL Counties	$15,321,408	6,738,581	$227.37
44. Delaware	$26,004,621	114,142	$227.83
45. Bartholomew	$19,460,861	84,572	$230.11
46. Dearborn	$11,422,682	49,589	$230.35
47. St. Joseph	$62,869,453	269,113	$233.62
48. Washington	$6,474,441	27,640	$234.24
49. Huntington	$8,523,902	36,190	$235.53
50. Decatur	$6,387,524	27,006	$236.52
51. Switzerland	$2,581,737	10,703	$241.22
52. Henry	$11,754,391	48,041	$244.67
53. Dekalb	$10,556,011	43,060	$245.15
54. Grant	$16,408,777	65,685	$249.81
55. Steuben	$8,857,471	34,453	$257.09
56. Clinton	$8,363,078	32,128	$260.30
57. Fulton	$5,249,703	20,110	$261.05
58. Montgomery	$10,050,372	38,342	$262.12
59. Porter	$45,141,047	171,945	$262.53
60. Warrick	$16,957,505	63,818	$265.72
61. Knox	$10,090,515	37,407	$269.75
62. Randolph	$6,588,137	24,249	$271.69
63. Brown	$4,117,613	14,631	$281.43
64. Fountain	$4,496,895	15,946	$282.01
65. Howard	$23,256,091	82,388	$282.28
66. Jefferson	$9,475,015	32,428	$292.19
67. Adams	$10,378,895	35,508	$292.30
68. Tipton	$4,345,304	14,769	$294.22
69. Vanderburgh	$55,453,994	184,440	$300.66
70. Union	$2,124,345	6,974	$304.61
71. Cass	$11,558,133	37,195	$310.74
72. Fayette	$7,049,678	22,570	$312.35
73. Vigo	$33,679,907	107,795	$312.44
74. Pulaski	$3,927,849	12,498	$314.28
75. Jay	$6,678,527	21,149	$315.78
76. Wayne	$21,535,106	65,349	$329.54
77. Blackford	$3,900,974	11,759	$331.74
78. Laporte	$37,377,971	110,328	$338.79
79. Lake	$162,823,664	479,815	$339.35
80. White	$8,178,288	23,810	$343.48
81. Sullivan	$7,141,839	20,579	$347.04
82. Rush	$5,701,142	16,252	$350.80
83. Daviess	$12,167,498	33,951	$358.38
84. Crawford	$3,771,049	10,330	$365.06
85. Gibson	$13,280,063	34,077	$389.71
86.Spencer	$8,476,983	20,564	$412.22
87. Warren	$3,617,990	8,096	$446.89
88. Benton	$3,828,429	8,507	$450.03
89. Pike	$12,081,018	25,053	$482.22
90. Posey	$6,699,774	13,797	$485.60
91. Vermillion	$8,061,619	15,214	$529.88
92. Newton	$7,195,036	12,259	$586.92

CONCLUSION: The per capita comparison of county property tax levies reveals that Boone County is the 11th best - not the number one county for the least property tax levy per citizen. However, it is noteworthy that Boone County's 2020 property tax levy per citizen of $163.28 is 28% less than the $227.37 average for all counties.

Indiana County Government Expenditures Per Capita

The 2019 Boone County Government Expenditures Per Capita was $4,264.14. Of all the 92 counties, only Hamilton County at $5,987.89 expended more per capita than Boone County – and no other county expended more per capita than $3,708.05. SOURCE: https://gateway.ifionline.org/report_builder/Default3a.aspx?rptType=afr&rpt=PropPerCapita&rptName=Expenditures%20Per%20Capita.

The very high 2019 Boone County Government Expenditures Per Capita raise an important question. Would there have been enough money available from revenue resources other than property tax-increasing bond issues to pay for bridge and culvert improvements if Boone County was not one of the two highest spending counties in the state?

Boone County taxpayers deserve answers from their elected public servants as to why Boone County is the second highest per capita spending county in the state.

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This page was last updated on 10/12/20.