PVA completes property assessment

By Greg Bird
birdman@tmcvoice.com

McCreary County Property Valuation Administrator Dwight Ross has released the final property assessment for 2019, setting the stage for local government entities to set their tax rates for the coming year.
According to figures released by Ross this week the total real estate assessment for McCreary County rose just over $6 million from last year, with most of the increases coming from residential property.
Residential totals grew from $234,448,304 in 2018 to $241,281,219 this year for an increase of about $6.7 million. Farmland increased from $42,127,793 to $42,290,643 and commercial property saw growth from $361,029,807 in 2018 to $368,167,872 in 2019.
In all the total assessment for 2019 stands at $368,167,872.
The final assessment is sent to the State Department of Revenue, who then uses the data to calculate suggested tax rates for government entities. The department typically submits at least two possible tax rates to governments and special taxing districts: a compensating rate, meaning the entity would generate close to the same revenue as the previous year, and a 4-percent rate, reflecting an increase of revenue by 4-percent over the previous year.
Typically the assessment is turned in by early August, giving the Revenue Cabinet time to calculate the suggested tax rates and return them to the relevant entities in time for them to determine their tax rate before the September Fiscal Court meeting where the rates are submitted.
The Fiscal Court and McCreary County Board of Education as well as Special Purpose Government Entities (SPGE) will set their tax rates next month and tax bills will go out shortly after.
Last year the Fiscal Court took the suggested compensating rate and actually lowered the property tax rate by 0.1 cent per $100 of value, due to the increased assessment last year. The Board of Education also lowered their tax rate on real property 0.2 cents per $100 of value.
The Extension Board lowered their property tax rate on real estate to 3.75 cents per $100 of assessed value while the Health District (4.0), Soil Conservation District (1.7), Library (7.5) and all five Fire Districts (10.0) kept their rates the same as previous years.