According to an F.C. Tucker report, Jackson County saw a decrease in both housing inventory and sales during March with a continued rise in the average sale price of a home.

The report stated that the amount of available housing inventory went from 33 homes in March 2022 to 29 homes, which is a 12.1% decrease. Pended home sales also dropped 31.4% compared to March of last year. However, the average sale price for a home in Jackson County increased 9.2% from the average sale price of $195,738 in March 2022 to $213,669.

This increase in housing prices and assessed values of homestead comes at a time when residents have seen an increase in their property tax.

Property taxes are a primary source of funding for local government units and are used to pay for a variety of services, including welfare, police and fire, new construction, local infrastructure and other projects, according to the Citizen’s Guide to Property Tax on the Department of Local Government Finance’s website.

Property taxes are allocated to each taxpayer proportionately according to the value of the taxpayer’s property.

According to the guide, the property tax process begins with the development of each property’s assessed value by the county assessor. The assessor then transfers each property’s value to the county auditor, who then, after applying deductions, exemptions and other valuation adjustments, sends these values to the Department of Local Government Finance.

The department then converts these values to property tax rates by dividing each local unit’s approved budget amounts by the assessed value for each unit.

After these rates are forwarded back to the county, the auditor and treasurer work together to calculate, generate and mail tax bills to each taxpayer.

Jackson County Auditor Staci Eglen provided a report of tax rate increases from 2022 to 2023 among the different taxing districts.

Ones that saw an increase is Jackson County as a whole were Carr Township, Hamilton Township, Jackson Township, Seymour School, Brownstown School and Brownstown Township Fire.

Residents of Jackson County saw a 0.15% increase, and Seymour Community Schools saw an 18.38% increase, the highest amongst the county.

Eglen said with the fluctuation of the housing market and the state of the economy, there are many factors that play into the increase in property tax.

The Jackson County Council discussed the increase in property taxes during its public meeting Wednesday.

Councilman Brian Thompson said there are about three combined functions that are occurring that are causing the increase.

Thompson said the state wishes to put the market value of homes at 100%, which brings an increase in home costs. New debt from projects also is a factor for the increase in property tax.

Thompson said they are not sure if Seymour schools’ debt is playing a role in this increase, but it is likely.

Jackson County Assessor Katie Kaufman said the increase is a combination of the assessed values in homes going up and the lack of tax rates reducing.

“There are many things that are coming together this year that are raising the tax bills significantly,” she said.

Kaufman said in theory, if assessed values of homes increased, then the tax rates should go down, but with the many factors that did not happen, it is predicted to increase more in the future.

“They are forecasting it to only continue to go up for the next seven years,” she said.

Thompson said with this significant increase to pay attention to what the state legislature will do to combat this and provide relief for homeowners.

An audience member asked the council where the money is going with the increase in tax rates.

Thompson said they are unsure as of now where the money is going, but it is likely going to a number of places.

The council said it will work hard to keep a reasonable budget, and members are conscious of the taxpayer and how that money is spent and plan to look into where the money will be going.