Chad Phillips
Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp.’s tax rate for 2022 will be slightly lower than that of 2021.
According to Assistant Superintendent of Finance Chad Phillips, the final rate for 2022 is $1.0108 per $100 of assessed valuation. The 2021 rate was $1.0110 for $100 of assessed value.
“The Department of Local Governmental Finance approved our 2022 tax rate and budget recently,” said Phillips. “And we will continue to track how we are doing.”
He shared that the state average for 2021 was $1.1093 and provided the following 2021 averages for comparable districts:
10 districts closest geographically: $1.1215
10 districts most similar in assessed value: $1.0548
10 districts most similar in overall total budget: $1.0725
“We think that those capture, basically, the best ways to tell how BCSC is doing from a property tax rate standpoint,” said Phillips. “…We continue not only to be responsible from a tax rate perspective, but continue to invest in our facilities and in our people.”
The 2020 tax rate was $0.8451. Board member Rich Stenner pointed out that the jump to $1.0110 in 2021 was due to the community voting in favor of the school corporation’s referendum to raise its property taxes by $0.1560.
During the 2020 primary, this referendum received approval from 61.33% of local voters.
According to the school corporation’s website, “These funds will be used to retain and recruit staff to support high quality education and to invest in student safety and security. The referendum property taxes will be collected 2021 through 2028, at which time the voters will need to renew the referendum to maintain these investments.”
Phillips noted that under the referendum, the school corporation committed to keeping the tax rate around $1.01 “excluding any extreme events that were outside of our control.”
