David Morgan (File photo/2012)
The new certified property tax rate and tax rate increase in Roane County could cost the owner of a $100,000 home in Oak Ridge another $95 per year, according to data provided by the Roane County property assessor.
That’s a 19.29 percent increase, according to the information from Property Assessor David Morgan. Here’s the breakdown of the increase: 4.37 percent was due to the increase in the state-certified rate—Tennessee officials call it a tax-neutral rate—and 19.29 percent was due to the 29-cent increase approved by the Roane County Commission on Monday and anticipated in a budget passed in July.
The tax-neutral rate in Roane County went up because the total overall property assessment went down 3.47 percent. The tax-neutral rate is the rate meant to bring in the same amount of revenues after a reappraisal as before. If the overall property assessment goes down, the tax-neutral rate goes up, and vice versa.
The additional $95 per year assumes the property assessment stayed the same, at $100,000, in the five-year reappraisals completed this year.
Other owners of a $100,000 home in rural areas, Harriman, Kingston, Oliver Springs, and Rockwood could also see close to a $100 increase in their property taxes, according to Morgan’s data.
| Roane County Tax Rate Revision | ||||
| Rural | Kingston/ | Harriman | Oak Ridge | |
| Oliver Springs/ | ||||
| Rockwood | ||||
| Old Rate | 2.1800 | 2.1300 | 1.9900 | 1.9700 |
| New Certified Rate | 2.2758 | 2.2231 | 2.0769 | 2.0561 |
| Commission’s Additional Rate | 0.3000 | 0.2900 | 0.2900 | 0.2900 |
| New Rate | 2.5750 | 2.5150 | 2.3700 | 2.3500 |
| Appraised Value | $100,000 | $100,000 | $100,000 | $100,000 |
| Assessed Value (at 25%) | $25,000 | $25,000 | $25,000 | $25,000 |
| Taxes Due (Old Rate) | $545 | $533 | $498 | $493 |
| Taxes Due (Certified Rate) | $569 | $556 | $519 | $514 |
| Taxes Due (New Rate) | $644 | $629 | $593 | $588 |
| % Increase (Old Rate to Cert. Rate) | 4.39% | 4.37% | 4.37% | 4.37% |
| % Increase (Cert. Rate to New Rate) | 13.15% | 13.13% | 14.11% | 14.29% |
| % Increase (Old Rate to New Rate) | 18.12% | 18.08% | 19.10% | 19.29% |
The Roane County Commission approved the property tax rate increase at its meeting Monday night in an 8-6 vote. The rate was raised 30 cents per $100 of assessed value in rural parts of Roane County and 29 cents in the cities (Oak Ridge, Oliver Springs, Kingston, Harriman, and Rockwood), according to Morgan’s data. The west end of Oak Ridge is in Roane County.
Commissioners approved the county’s budget back in July. Twenty-two cents of the tax increase will go toward the county schools.
Approval of the property tax comes after months of waiting for the state to finish its assessments after the state comptroller’s office took over for the Roane County Assessor’s Office.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
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