Genesee County Legislature acted on a final 2023 budget proposal on Monday that won’t be exactly as county Manager Matt Landers initially promised.
There was a slight amendment made last week that will affect the tax rate, albeit slightly.
“I just received word a half hour ago that the assessments changed the tax rate by a penny,” Landers had said to the Ways & Means Committee.
Although legislators would have liked the penny difference to at least go the other way, it will increase the tax rate to $8.45. The total levy — money to be raised through property taxes — is unchanged at $32,080,762, which reflects a 2 percent levy increase. That levy increase is within the state-mandated levy limit, or tax cap, Landers said.
How will that affect county taxpayers? The rate will be $8.45 per $1,000 assessed value versus $8.44 as initially declared. That will be a decrease of 73 cents per $1,000 assessed property value compared to the current rate of $9.18. To determine your total tax rate, multiply the property value in 1,000 increments (for example, 90 for a $90,000 home) by the tax rate.
Because property assessments have increased for many folks, it’s not a fair comparison to use a typical assessment by each the former and current tax rate for the difference in tax payments from this year. So if your property value was increased, you may not see a decreased total due to that larger number multiplied by the lower tax rate.
For example, a home assessed at $90,000 at the current rate of $9.18 is $826.20. If that home's value has been raised to $100,000 at the lower rate of $8.45, the total will be $845.
To read prior coverage: Genesee County proposes budget with 2 percent levy increase
File photo of Genesee County Manager Matt Landers, by Joanne Beck.
