Half of Lincoln County’s 16 school districts have tax millage levies that are lower in 2021 than in 2020 according to Jackie Holcomb, Lincoln County Assessor.
Seven school district’s tax millage levies are up, although three of those seven are up less than one percent. One school district’s tax millage levy stayed the same as last year.
The biggest increase is in the part of McLoud School District in Lincoln County. Those taxpayers will see an increase of 31.47 percent this year as a result of a voter-approved bond issue for school improvements.
The tax millage levies are applied to the tax roll to determine the amount of each property’s tax. Because half of the school districts in Lincoln County have lower tax millage levies, many property owners will see lower property taxes in 2021.
Holcomb said that changes in property tax millage levies are a result of bonds issued for local school districts for such things as buildings and buses.She continued that when a millage levy goes up it is typically because of a new bond issue and when it goes down it is when bonds are being paid off.
For a school to borrow money through a bond issue, it has to be approved by 60 percent of the voters in the school district.
In addition to the McLoud increase, Agra (up 3.67 percent), Paden (up 2.97 percent) and Cushing (up 1.34 percent) school districts will see increases. Prague, Davenport and Stroud all have increases of less than one percent.
The school districts going down the most were Carney (down 4.52 percent), Chandler (down 2.94 percent), Harrah (down 2.31 percent) and Wellston (down 1.94 percent). Luther, Meeker, Oak Grove and Perkins-Tryon school districts’ levies all went down less than one percent from 2020. White Rock’s levy did not change this year.
The actual tax millage levy per $1,000 of assessed value varies widely by school district across the county, based upon the assessed valuation of all the property in the school district and the amount of bonded indebtedness that local voters approve. White Rock has the lowest levy at $74.67 while McLoud has the highest at $115.38 per $1,000 of net assessed value.
Holcomb explained that a $100,000 property with homestead exemption would pay $747 in real estate taxes in the White Rock school district but the same property would pay $1,154 in the McLoud school district. She said that the voters determine the difference by the amount of school bonds they approve at an election.
The Assessor went on to say that some property owners could see changes in their tax bills that are more or less than the average for their school district.
She explained that these exceptions are usually the result of having purchased the property in 2020, the addition or removal of a building in 2020, the addition or removal of personal property from a business or farm assessment or a change in assessed value required to be in compliance with yearly state audits.