Election Results on State Questions
Submitted by llovely on Tue, 11/13/2012 - 12:57
You've heard that all the state questions on last week's ballot were approved, and that two of those questions were related to property taxes, which supply the Library's revenue. The effect of these tax cuts on the Library won't be fully known until next August, and won't take affect until next year's budget (FY 2013-14), but here's my best guess at this point:
- State Question 758: This lower's the yearly cap that tax on any given property can increase. From 1995 until now, we have operated under a 5% cap, now it will be lowered to 3%. It is still possible that our yearly revenues could be higher than 3%, because of new properties being added, or because of existing properties being sold and consequently re-assessed to the selling price (we will hope that property values climb and that lots of people buy and sell real estate so that their property will be re-assessed to market value!).
- State Question 766: This change will eliminate intangible property from the tax rolls. No one seems to know for sure how much intangible property is currently being taxed in Oklahoma County, but we're fairly sure this will have a distinct impact on the Library.
My best guess at this point is that the changes will lower the total property valuations by about the same amount that values would have risen otherwise. Therefore, our next year's budget should not include an increase or a decrease in expense dollars overall. I expect that we will be postponing any large expenses for a year or so, after which time we hope to have absorbed this setback.
Supervisors: If you or your staff have specific questions or need further explanations, we can discuss this at the next X-change meeting, December 3.
Lloyd Lovely
