The Treasurer & Taxes: It's Your Money! (How Bob Drake will lower property taxes.)

By Bob M. Drake

It is possible to reduce the amount paid in property taxes by many residents of Hamilton County through a plan to use the interest on early payments. A significant advantage is that this plan, while reducing the tax paid by individuals, does NOT reduce the amount used for other purpos

"How can this happen?" you may ask. "I thought that taxes were unavoidable!" It's true that everyone who owns property pays property taxes. The amount you pay depends on the assessed value of your property, and you pay taxes on that amount based on the tax rate in your area. Usually, people pay their property taxes in two payments each year. These payments are often large, and may be difficult to pay for people with fixed incomes or for people who have financial difficulties during the period when taxes are due. The Treasurer can actually lower the total amount paid by allowing you to make smaller monthly installments rather than making two large payments each year.

"How does that lower my taxes? Doesn't that just spread out the payments?" To lower the amount you pay, you must receive the interest that accumulates on those early payments! Though a system currently exists for people to pay their taxes in monthly installments, the interest on that money goes to the HAMILTON COUNTY COMMISSIONERS's GENERAL FUND! They may spend that money in any way they choose (e.g., to hire a public relations firm to fool the public about stadium cost overruns). It's YOUR money - not the County Commissioners' money - and it should be used for YOUR benefit.

"How much can I save?" Obviously, it depends on how much you pay, how early you make the payments, and what the interest rate is. Let's look at a few examples. Assume that you own a home valued at $207,700 in Hamilton County. Depending on the municipality in which you live, your property taxes would be about $2481.68 a year. To determine how much you might save, multiply that amount by seven percent (the interest rate earned by the County on its deposits). In this example, the homeowner would save about $173.70 a year! Multiply that by the nine years the current Treasurer has been in office, and it's clear that you have spent $1563.30 more than you should have!

A total of $932,758,664 was collected for property taxes in
1997. Interest received by the County during the same period was 7%. That means that approximately $65,293,106.48 could have been returned to taxpayers that year. That's enough to give almost $75 to every man, woman, and child in Hamilton County (or enough to cover the stadium cost overruns - so far).

"I like to pay only twice a year - would I have to pay monthly?" Absolutely not. This is an optional system that taxpayers may choose to take advantage of. The point is, it's YOUR choice. If you prefer to allow interest on your money to go to the General Fund, you may do that. If you would rather reduce the amount of taxes you pay, it should be possible for you to do that too. It's YOUR money! Choose how to use