Wayne County Property Taxes: Are They Going Up, and What Are They Used For?

The probability of a property tax increase has been on Wayne County property owners’ minds lately, especially after the Wayne County Budget Committee recommended a ten-cent increase to the County Commission for their approval. Although each member of the Budget Committee expressed their reluctance to vote yes on an increase, they were all in agreement that a property tax increase must take place to fund the county’s FY 2025-2026 budget. What many Wayne Countians don’t realize is that the Budget Committee and the County Commission are voting on a ten-cent increase to the State’s recommended certified tax rate. It is actually a decrease from last year’s county certified tax rate.

After our request for more information, Wayne County Financial Advisor Lori Brasher kindly gave a statement to The News about understanding property tax reappraisals and certified tax rates. This topic was also discussed by Wayne County Property Assessor Dustin White in the three town hall meetings he held earlier this year, and White was asked to explain it once again at last week’s County Commission meeting.

Many Wayne Countians have concerns about property taxes going up and why. This year, 2025, was Wayne County’s reappraisal year, with the last reappraisal taking place in 2022. As Mr. White has explained, neither he nor his office has any control over the state’s property assessments. They arrived at their numbers based on property sales in Wayne County in 2024, and as everyone knows, the sale price of houses and farms has skyrocketed over the last few years. There has been a lot of speculation about this, with most agreeing that people moving to Wayne County from other states are willing to pay much higher prices for homes and farms here. People moving to our beautiful county from other states or regions may be accustomed to much higher property values and sale prices where they have lived previously, and they are willing to pay higher prices here, where they can get more land and bigger homes for lower prices than they expect or are used to.

Mr. White explained that property is divided into three categories in Wayne County for tax purposes: residential, commercial, and greenbelt (certain farm properties). The state’s property assessments went up the most on residential properties, as the value of homes in Wayne County went up 59% last year. The value of land went up 45%, which is a significant increase as well. The tax assessment of commercial property in Wayne County stayed the same.

“Over time, with changes in the real estate market, property tax appraisals become inaccurate and unfair between property owners,” said Ms. Brasher. “Reappraisals eliminate the inequities, ensuring fairness and equity for all property owners. If the Assessor’s record of a property’s fair market value does not change, some people could pay too much in property taxes, while others could pay too little.”

Following the reappraisals, the State issued the county a certified tax rate. This rate is calculated by the State alone and would ideally bring in the same amount of revenue in property taxes as the previous year. The certified tax rate issued by the State for Wayne County for FY 2025-2026 was $1.5416. This was actually a decrease from Wayne County’s FY 2024-2025 certified tax rate of $2.1673.

The rate issued by the State is not mandatorily implemented. The County Budget Committee took into consideration the amount of tax revenue needed to balance this year’s budget and compared it to the State’s recommended rate. The Budget Committee ultimately voted to recommend to the County Commission a certified tax rate of $1.6416, a ten-cent increase to the State’s recommended rate, but still lower than last year’s rate of $2.1673.

With all the talk of the property tax rate going up or going down, the actual meaning and calculation of it can get lost or forgotten in all the chaos. A property tax rate of 1.6416 means that for every $100 of a property’s assessed value, $1.6416 in tax is owed. Your property tax bill is calculated by multiplying the assessed value by the tax rate. For example, if a property has an assessed value of $100,000 and the property tax rate is $1.6416 per every hundred dollars of assessed value, the tax owed would be calculated like this: first, $100,000 divided by 100 equals 1000. Then, the tax rate of 1.6416 multiplied by 1000 equals a tax bill of $1,641.60. Even though the certified tax rate has gone down significantly from last year, the increase in assessed values of property (by the State) can make your tax bill higher than last year.

There has also been much talk about how the county’s property tax revenue is divided among departments. The proposed FY 2025-2026 Budget Resolution breaks it down as:

County General Fund – 0.93466, Solid Waste – 0.16360, Highway Department – 0.04040, General Purpose School – 0.40544, General Capital Projects – 0.04875, and Capital Projects Hospital – 0.04875. This breakdown comes to a total of 1.64160, which is the proposed certified tax rate.

The Wayne County Commission met on Monday, July 28, after The News went to press. A public hearing was held prior to the meeting, and the proposed FY 2025-2026 was voted on in the special commission meeting. Watch The Wayne County News next week for a recap of the special commission meeting.