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It is very nice to see Owen County as the featured county in the Association of Indiana Counties' bi-monthly magazine, Indiana News 92.

Indiana News 92 - July/August 2011

Owen County Government's 2012 budget requests have now been posted.  Budget hearings will be held on August 25th and 26th in the second floor meeting room of the Owen County Courthouse.  A more detailed schedule of when each department/budget will be reviewed is available on the taxpayer resources page of this site:

2012 County Budget Hearings Schedule

Budget hearings are open to the public and are designed to provide an opportunity for you to voice concerns or questions you may have regarding county budgets. I invite you to be a part of the process. If you have any questions, or would like to learn more about the process, please ask.

Our County Auditor had provided budget data to me and I prepared an electronic copy in Microsoft Excel format of the budget requests for you. Here is a link to the requests contained via the taxpayer resource page of this site:

2012 County Budget Requests

Many decisions for 2012 are going to be made at these hearings based on where we are at with the current 2011 budget and the details surrounding any proposed increases in 2012.  We will match the requests with the short-term and long-term challenges we have to address. In addition, we have to review current budget appropriations and consider the state's financial projections/limitations for our county.  For 2012, we will continue to address issues such as vehicle rotations for the Sheriff and EMS Departments, courthouse security, wages/salaries structure adjustments and enhancements, the Local Option Income Tax, and growing impact of property tax caps.

Now that you have this information available to view, there are a couple of comments I want to make which may help put the process into perspective:

BUDGET REQUESTS

The 2012 budget requests are simply that--REQUESTS. By law, we have to advertise budget amounts in advance of the hearings. The advertised amounts are always much much higher than what winds up being approved because it gives us maximum flexibility in addressing the demand for our services and making adjustments. So, please do not be alarmed at things that may seem very high in dollar amount. As a Council member, my duty is to review each line item carefully, establish/justify needs, and match that up with priorities on any amounts before final approval.  In addition, we have to pass and operate under a balanced budget structure, so we can only pass an operating budget that we can pay for.

GOVERNMENT FUNDING

All county government services are funded from a variety of different revenue sources.

There is always a lot of discussion concerning property taxes. Depending on whether you live in the Town of Spencer or out in Washington Township, county government services pull between 16.8% and 21.8% of each property tax dollar you pay.  Here is a breakdown for 2011 (the current budget year):

District Two Property Tax Breakdown per Dollar (2011-Current Year)

Some departments and budgets are not funded by property tax.  In addition to property tax, other county revenue sources include, but are not limited to, income tax, motor vehicle taxes, service fees, 911 surcharges, interest, and state-distributed money.

Thank you for your time today. Additional information about the Owen County Council, myself, and local government can be found on this website. Please feel free to contact me with your questions/concerns.

The Auditor's office had released the 2010 payable 2011 property tax rates earlier this year. An official copy of the rate sheet is available in that office on the second floor of the courthouse. I would like to put a good word in for the hard work and diligence of our local officials in getting all components in place for the approval and release of these rates.  Here is a link to the taxpayer resources section of this website with the rates:

2011 Owen County Property Tax Rates

In addition to the rate sheet, I have also taken the rate information for our District and created a resource that you may also find valuable. It splits out each property tax dollar you pay by each taxing unit.  You'll be able to know to the nearest 1/1000th of a cent how much of each dollar you pay goes to each taxing unit.

All of this information is also available on this website using the following link to the taxpayer resources section:

2011 District Two Property Tax Dollar Analysis & Charts

Two things I would like to note--your final tax due is dependent on any applicable homestead, mortgage, or other exemptions that apply to each property you own.  The Treasurer's office has mailed all tax statements and the first installment is due May 10th.  As always, if you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

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