Calculating the impact of the 90 million dollar Edmond bond issue‏

A property’s taxable value is 11% of its assessed value thus the taxable value of a $200,000 home is $22,000. The value adjusts downward to $21,000 if the taxpayer claims his $1,000 homestead exemption.

If we remember that each mill represents one dollar of taxes for every $1,000 of taxable value, the homeowner can now calculate his tax by taking the number of mills, in this case 80, multiplied by 21 since the adjusted taxable value is $21,000. As you can see, the pre-bond tax bill on a $200,000 property is $1,680.

Now, let’s add in the 24 mills of school bond debt. Instead of multiplying 21 by the pre-bond 80 mills, we will multiply 21 by 104 mills which totals $2,184 or $504 more than the pre-bond level of $1,680.

If you like, you can skip the math by navigating to Oklahoma County Assessor Leonard Sullivan’s tax calculator at www.oklahomacounty.org/assessor/taxcalculator.htm. Simply enter your property’s assessed value, the homestead exemption amount and the number of mills of bond debt, 24 in this case, and the calculator will display the amount of the difference.

As an aside, this calculator works for both Logan and Oklahoma County residents of the Edmond school district because the Logan County assessment ratio of 11% is equal to Oklahoma County’s ratio which is also 11%.

Until recently, properties in Logan County were taxed at a ratio of 12%. This meant that the patrons of the Edmond school district who lived north of Waterloo road paid more in taxes, for the exact same services, as those who lived south of Waterloo road. That changed last year when Logan County Assessor Tisha Hampton lowered the assessment ratio from 12% to 11%.

Some senior citizens may want to know if the bond debt will apply those who have obtained the “senior freeze” on their taxes. The answer is yes. Bond issue related taxes apply to these properties even though the assessment has been frozen.

Making this election especially important for northern Oklahoma and southern Logan County residents is the fact that many of those who live in the northern parts of the Edmond district will be eligible to vote in the only Edmond school board of this year and in the election for a Francis Tuttle board member.

Unlike the recent Guthrie school bond election, the Edmond election will not take place on a major election date. This means that few will vote and those who take the time to vote will be rewarded by the fact that every vote will carry a lot more weight.

A sample ballot can be viewed by navigating to the Oklahoma election board’s voter tool at hd31.org/679.

Thank you for reading this article. Your interest and input are much appreciated. Please do not hesitate to email Jason.Murphey@hd31.org with your thoughts and suggestions.