County enjoys 28 percent growth over past six years
Greene county auditor Jane Heun and the board of supervisors will have a modest increase in total taxable valuation for the county as they tackle the FY 2016 budget in the coming months.
Pam Olerich, real estate and tax coordinator in the auditor’s office reported to the supervisors at their Jan. 2 meeting that total taxable valuation for the county is $617,189,200, an increase of 2.87 percent from the current year. The taxable valuation is based on property values as of Jan. 1, 2014.
A state-mandated 10 percent rollback of property taxes on commercial and industrial property left the county with a decrease of 0.22 percent in taxable valuation of urban properties. An increase of 4.02 percent for rural properties offset that loss.
Grand Junction and Paton saw increases in urban valuations of 1.0 percent and 2.63 percent respectively. Cities lost valuation as follows: Churdan, 0.65 percent; Dana, 3.08 percent; Jefferson, 0.06 percent; Rippey, 1.88 percent; and Scranton, 0.39 percent.
Valuations for school budgets also increased. Because the FY 16 budget is based on 2014 values, Olerich reported values for the Jefferson-Scranton and East Greene districts. Taxable valuation in the former EG district increased 5.29 percent up to $133,831,064. The increase in the former J-S district was 1.91 percent up to $317,241,276. Paton-Churdan, which saw an increase 4.63 percent last year, has an increase of 2.89 percent this year, up to $109,097,990.
Olerich noted an increase of 14.79 percent in property values in tax increment finance (TIF) districts, with most of that being in Jefferson.
She also cautioned the supervisors that the most recent agricultural land survey shows a decrease in land values. That decrease will have in impact on the assessor’s land values, though not immediately. (According to the Iowa Land Value Survey conducted in November by the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development at Iowa State University, average Iowa farmland value is now estimated to be $7,943 per acre, a drop in value of $773, or 8.9 percent per acre. In Greene County, the average value dropped from $9,556 in 2013 to $8,645 in 2014, a decrease of 9.6 percent).
The taxable valuation is the first number in the formula used to figure levy rates required to meet the county’s revenue needs. Heun and the supervisors will have the FY 16 budget (July 1, 2015 through June 30, 2016) completed in March.
Supervisor Tom Contner asked Olerich about property values at the site of Wild Rose Jefferson. She explained that the figures are based on Jan. 1, 2014, when the site at the intersection of Highways 4 and 30 was agricultural. A year from now, as the supervisors figure the FY 17 budget, the property value will reflect the construction as it was Jan. 1, 2015. It won’t be until FY 18 that the value of improvements is reflected in the total valuation of the county.
Valuation trends: Olerich returned to the supervisors Jan. 5 to share information about valuations in adjacent counties. Of the primarily rural counties, Greene County has fared the best in the past six years.
Olerich created a spreadsheet with total valuations each year starting in 2008 through 2014 for Boone, Calhoun, Carroll, Dallas, Greene, Guthrie and Webster counties. Calculating total growth over that time, Carroll County saw the most growth at 48.8 percent. Dallas saw a 42.4 percent increase in total taxable valuation. Growth in other counties is as follows: Boone, 17.9 percent; Calhoun, 24 percent; Greene, 28 percent; Guthrie, 24 percent; and Webster, 17.5 percent.
To see the numbers, click here: Neighboring counties net valuations
