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OPINIONS
May 23, 2019 |
 |
 Wingate Lassiter |
Property-tax rates alone don't tell
the whole story about governments
'Tis the season for local governments to set the rates for property taxes most of us will be paying later this year. A word of advice: Beware of comparing old rates and new rates, or one government's rates versus another's, without looking at the proverbial "bottom line."
Actually, there are two bottom lines here. The first, and perhaps foremost on your mind, is the dollar amount on your tax bill when all is said and done. The second is not as simply measured, and that's how you answer this question: What benefits are we getting for the taxes we pay?
When you read that a property-tax rate will remain the same this year as it was last year, it doesn't always mean your tax bill won't go up. In the case of our situation here, keeping rates the same in figuring both County of Johnston and Town of Smithfield real-estate taxes will result in higher bills for most residents and businesses. That's because countywide revaluation taking effect with this year's billing cycle has raised assessed values for just about everybody.
That hasn't happened in eight years, as elected leaders of both county and town have left tax rates unchanged since the last revaluation in 2011. At this writing there's some momentum to keep those rates the same once again, in effect raising our taxes. That won't be settled until both governing boards adopt their budgets between now and the end of June --- after hearing (or not hearing) from us, their constituents.
Meanwhile, there's a pitfall in comparing rates we pay here in Smithfield and Johnston County with what folks pay in Raleigh and Wake County. Their tax rates are actually lower than ours, but that doesn't mean our taxes are higher than theirs. It's likely quite the opposite, because property valuations in Wake County as a whole are considerably higher than valuations in Johnston County. That's the result of contrasting real-estate markets. A $200,000 residence in Smithfield might be valued at $300,000 or more in Raleigh these days, and that means higher tax bills there, even with lower tax rates.
Back to the other "bottom line": What benefits will follow if our tax bills go up this year? If you've been following the Sun's recent coverage of budget deliberations by the Johnston County Board of Education and the Smithfield Town Council, you've read the case for raising taxes. Both boards have identified projects and services the public expects and demands, and the only way to pay for those needs is to impose higher taxes and fees.
Local governments are required to make ends meet. There's no "deficit spending" and there are strict limits on borrowing money. The county and town can only spend what they collect from us from one year to the next. The price for improving our schools, fixing our infrastructure, or shoring up our personal safety and security is in that tax bill we'll get later this year.
If we aren't willing to pay for what we want, we'll surely suffer the consequences. And we'll have little standing when we complain about stuff we lack.
The budget story so far
If you'd like to review what we've reported this spring about local budget-making, here are links to the Sun's coverage to date:
• County Commissioners "work session" of March 19>
• Town Council budget session of March 26>
• Town Council budget sessions of April 11 & 15>
• Board of Education budget session of April 29>
• Town Council budget session of April 30>
• Board of Education budget request adopted May 14>
• Town Council budget session of May 16>
• County Manager's proposed budget (a summary)>
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