Two things determine the amount of a property tax bill: the property’s assessed value and the tax rates of the taxing jurisdictions in which the property is located. The tax rate is determined by the amount of tax levy to be raised from all, or part, of a taxing district and the district’s taxable assessed value. The assessment is determined by the assessor and is based on the market value of the property less any applicable property tax exemptions.

Each year after the total assessed value is set, the assessor calculates tax rates based on taxing districts budget requests which are regulated by statutory limits. Each taxing district in the county sends its approved budget to the assessor. The assessor uses the budget request and the total value of all taxable properties in the district to calculate a tax rate.

The rate is expressed in dollars per each thousand dollars of property value. The tax rate of each district is combined with the rates of other districts to get the total rate. From this the assessor can easily determine the total tax you owe for support of schools, special service districts, and local governments.