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Lebanon Schools Property Tax History
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The Lebanon Community School Corporation School Superintendent, Robert Taylor, celebrates in the March 22, 2013, Lebanon Reporter “being good stewards of tax dollars” because the school property tax rate has decreased every year for the last six years. While our Lebanon School Boards and school administration can make a modest claim to being fiscally responsible, the total LCSC property tax picture isn’t near as rosy as they imply.
Superintendent Taylor gives the impression that credit goes to the school administration for the property tax rate having declined 41% from $1.5782 in 2007 to $0.9347 in 2013. Listed next is a detailed history of the LCSC property tax rates for 2007 through 2013.
Pay 2007 LCSC Property Tax Rate
Pay 2008 LCSC Property Tax Rate
Pay 2009 LCSC Property Tax Rate
Pay 2010 LCSC Property Tax Rate
Pay 2011 LCSC Property Tax Rate
Pay 2012 LCSC Property Tax Rate
Pay 2013 LCSC Property Tax Rate
A careful review of the foregoing historical data shows that almost all the LCSC property tax rate decline is due to state action and not local restraint.
Prior to 2009, the total LCSC property tax rate was computed by adding together the seven separate property tax rates for School General, Pre-School Special Education, Debt Service, Capital Projects, Transportation, Bus Replacement, and School Pension Debt. The statewide sales tax rate was increased from 6% to 7% beginning April 1, 2008. In return for this sales tax increase, the state assumed beginning in 2009 all the School General and Pre-School Special Education expenses for all school corporations.
The 2007 LCSC property tax rate of $1.5782 was composed of $0.6157 for School General and Pre-School Special Education, and $0.9625 for the five local property tax rate components of Debt Service, Capital Projects, Transportation, Bus Replacement, and School Pension Debt. The 2013 school tax rate of $0.9347 is composed entirely of the five local property tax rate components. Therefore, of the total $0.6435 reduction in the tax rate from 2007 to 2013, the state’s assumption of all the School General and Pre-School Special Education expenses accounted for $0.6157 (or 96%) of the decrease while local cuts accounted for only $0.0278 ($0.9625 minus $0.9347, or 4%) of the decrease.
Of the last 6 years, 2009 was the only year that each of the LCSC five local property tax rate components increased from the prior year. Is it really a coincidence that the 2009 local property tax rate components increased a combined 32%? Or, did the school board and school administration make a deliberate decision to significantly increase the local property tax rate components since the increases would be more difficult to identify the first year the total school property tax rate significantly declined due to the state’s assumption of all the LCSC School General and Pre-School Special Education expenses?
LCSC property taxes are problematic for homeowners because the bond payments for the $40 million referendum passed in 2010 are outside the 1% property tax cap until 2023. The portion of the 2013 LCSC property tax rate outside the property tax caps is 24%, and 10% of the total 2013 Lebanon property tax rate is not subject to the caps.
Finally, informed taxpayers know better than to rely on property tax rates to evaluate their tax burden – the amount of property tax actually paid is what is important because of assessed value changes. The actual LCSC property taxes paid by the typical Lebanon homeowner at 2625 Countryside Drive are as follows: $1,002.15 in 2007; $1,135.43 in 2008, $571.35 in 2009; $537.82 in 2010; $461.52 in 2011; $466.46 in 2012; and $395.42 in 2013. While the LCSC property tax rates have declined every year for the last six years, the LCSC property tax amount paid by most homeowners increased two of those six years.
The bottom line is that almost all the LCSC property tax rate decline the past six years was paid for by the statewide 2008 sales tax increase.
The only credit the school administration has earned is for this year’s 11% decrease in the LCSC property tax rate from 2012.Watchdog Indiana Home Page
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This page was last updated on 03/24/13 .