Since tax season is upon us and annual ad valorem statements have been mailed to property owners, it seems important to mention again that property taxes do not fund roads. This is a widespread misconception, as is the belief that if you buy gas within the county, the money stays here. It does not. Fuel taxes are collected by the Oklahoma State Tax Commission and then distributed to the 77 counties based on a formula.
The huge majority of property tax funds public education. The specific breakdown of how ad valorem tax is used is indicated on your tax statement. The amount you pay is affected not only by the fair market value of your property, but by bond issues, which make your taxes go up or down, depending on when bonds are approved or paid off.
Many people do not realize when bond elections are held and therefore are surprised to find that their property tax has gone up for no apparent reason. For instance, in Edmond, voters have approved 55 consecutive school bonds, and yet, in one election, in 2009, out of 9,394 voters, only 81 ballots were cast.
The portion of property tax which the county receives falls under the classification of “County General” and “County Health.” County General provides for the courthouse, supplies for the jail and salaries for elected officials. County Health funds the Health Department. “County Wide 4-Mil” is funding for schools, as are all the remaining categories related to education.
Money for road maintenance comes from a totally different source. Fuel tax, gross production tax and motor vehicle collections pay for roads. The amount we receive varies considerably, depending partly upon how much fuel people purchase during a given time.
Once this road money, or “Highway Cash,” reaches the county, it is distributed into various accounts in each road district to pay for employees and equipment. The remaining portion goes into an account we refer to as the “Maintenance and Operations” fund. This pays for fuel, signs, asphalt, salt, sand, parts, services, utilities, tires and
supplies.
The average monthly amount District 1 received in this account over the last year was approximately $32,000. However, this can fluctuate wildly.
In December 2010, each commission district received well under $10,000 for road maintenance. During that month, District 1 had $7532 to apply toward maintaining 275 miles of roadway, about the distance it is from Guthrie to Corsicana, Texas.
If you have questions about any of this information, or other county matters, feel free to contact me at 282-3581.
Mark Sharpton
Commissioner
Logan County District 1
405.282.3581
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