What's Included in the Property Tax Summary Tables
These tables show property tax data for Indiana's 92 counties for the years 1977 through 2004. The tables use two formats. The "All Counties, One Year" tables show the 92 counties, and the state totals, for a single year. The "All Years, One County" tables show data for the years 1977 through 2004, for a single county. The data in corresponding tables are the same (that is, the 1977 line in the Adams County table matches the Adams County line in the 1977 table). Each county entry is the sum for all local governments within the county.
Go to the Property Tax Summary Tables:
All Counties,
One Year
All Years, One County
Contents
Pay Year
Assessed Value
A.V.
Gross Levy
Average Gross Rate
Property Tax Replacement Credits
Less 20% PTRC
Net Levy
Average Net Rate
PTRC %
Links to More Information
Pay Year
This is the year the property tax bills were paid.
Property is assessed for tax purposes in one year. Taxes are paid on these
assessments in the next year. The phrase "2003 pay 2004" means the assessments
were done as of March 1, 2003, and the taxes were paid in 2004 (in two installments,
in May and November).
Assessed Value or A.V.
This is net assessed value, which
is gross assessed value less exemptions and deductions. The assessors place
a value on taxable property, but most property is eligible for one or more
exemptions or deductions. Taxable or net
assessed value is the assessed value that is actually taxes, after deductions
are subtracted. Exempt property such as government or religious buildings is
not included.
From pay 1977 through pay 2001 assessed value was "true tax value" divided by three. Assessors used a set of rules based on construction costs and depreciation to value land and buildings, and another set of rules based on purchase price and depreciation to value inventories and equipment. This was called true tax value. The resulting figures were then divided by three to yield assessed value. The jumps in assessed value seen in most counties in pay 1980, 1990 and 1996 were due to statewide reassessments. The construction cost and depreciation rules for real property were revised in those years.
In 2002 assessed value was no longer divided by three, so assessed value equaled true tax value. This explains the large jump in assessments that occurs in 2002, even though 2002 was not reassessment year. Tax payments did not change significantly in 2002, because tax rates were cut by two-thirds at the same time that assessments tripled.
In 2003 and after Indiana real assessed value has been based on market value, that is, on the predicted selling prices of property. In most counties this caused a very large jump in assessed value.
Gross Levy
This is the total amount of revenue that local governments
collect from the property tax. Growth of the gross levy is limited by state
property tax controls.
Average Gross Rate
This is the gross levy divided by assessed
value, times 100. Property tax rates are calculated by each local government
each year, by dividing the levy to be raised by the assessed value within the
local government's boundaries. The rate is stated as "dollars per $100 assessed
value," or, effectively, as a percentage. The rates shown here are the averages
for all the local governments in the county.
Property Tax Replacement Credits or Less 20% PTRC
Property tax
replacement credits (PTRC) are revenues paid by the state to local governments
to reduce the amount of property taxes collected from taxpayers. Tax bills
that taxpayers pay are reduced by a PTRC percentage. This reduces the amount
of revenue local governments collect from the property tax, but the state replaces
this lost revenue with PTRC. The state pays PTRC out of its budget, and funds
them with general revenues, mostly from sales, individual income and corporate
income taxes.
PTRC were created in 1973 during the Bowen administration. From 1973 to 1984 PTRC were paid at a rate of 20% on the whole gross property tax levy. Starting in pay 1985, however, some parts of the levy became ineligible for PTRC. Debt service payments on bonds issued in 1985 and after were the largest category of levies not eligible. This change was made because the state feared that paying PTRC on debt service was encouraging local governments to borrow more and build more elaborate infrastructure than was necessary.
In pay 2003 PTRC was reformed as part of the June 2002 tax restructuring. New PTRC payments were made to offset on 60% of school general funds. This greatly increased the amount of PTRC paid by the state. However, the old 20% PTRC payment was further restricted, to cover only the part of the gross levy derived from real property, not personal property.
Note that there is another state property tax credit program, known as "homestead credits", that are not included in these data.
Net Levy
This is the gross levy minus property tax replacement
credits. It is a measure of the property taxes that taxpayers actually pay
to all the county's local governments. The net levy plus PTRC equals the total
amount that local governments realize from the property tax. Note again that
homestead credits are not included in these data. Were homestead credits included,
the net levy would be smaller still.
Average Net Rate
This is the net levy divided by assessed value,
times 100, so it is expressed as "dollars per $100 assessed value." Not "net
rate" appears on property tax bills. It is calculated here because it a comparison
over time and among counties of the taxes that taxpayers actually pay, after
state property tax replacement credits.
PTRC %
This is the property tax replacement credits as a percentage
of the gross levy. The percentage shows how much the PTRC program reduces property
taxes for taxpayers. As noted above, from 1973 to 1984 PTRC were paid at a
rate of 20% of the gross property tax levy. Debt service and some smaller parts
of the levy became ineligible for PTRC starting in 1985. This change was made
because the state feared that paying PTRC on debt service was encouraging local
governments to
borrow more and build more elaborate infrastructure than was necessary. Since
PTRC was calculated as 20% of a fraction of the gross levy, the overall PTRC
percentage (as a percent
of the whole gross levy) began to fall.
In pay 2003 PTRC was reformed as part of the June 2002 tax restructuring. New PTRC payments were made to offset on 60% of school general funds. This increased the amount of PTRC paid by the state, so the PTRC percentage increased.
| To Find: | Go To: |
| The Indiana Handbook of Taxes, Revenues and Appropriations, years 1999-2004 | The Indiana General Assembly website, Legislative Services Agency publications |