How much more will I pay? Washington County tax hike

JONESBOROUGH, Tenn. (WJHL) — An average Washington County homeowner will pay 34% more in county property tax if a near-certain 30-cent property tax increase is approved later this month.

A 30-cent increase amounts to 21.5% , but for residential property owners, the county’s recent countywide reappraisal adds insult to injury — the average 68% appreciation bumping up the typical residential owner’s property tax bill by another 10.2% due to much lower appreciation for commercial property.

Many will pay even more. A home in Johnson City’s Tree Streets reappraised 74% higher, setting up a 38% effective tax increase ($490).

A smaller townhouse in Boones Creek that reappraised 71% higher will see taxes rise by 36% ($180) if the county passes the 30-cent hike.

Calculate your likely Washington County tax bill

To calculate your 2024 Washington County property tax, assuming a 30-cent increase, simply multiply your home’s total appraised value by 0.004275. It works.

The average increase for commercial property owners, conversely, will be significantly lower due to an average appreciation of just 27%, putting a higher percentage of the overall property tax burden on homeowners.

News Channel 11 analyzed two factors to reach an answer: the 21.5% increase commissioners voted for 13-2 in the first stage of approval Monday night and the additional 10.2% increase that results from the recent countywide property reappraisal . (Increasing taxes by 21.5% from a 10.2% higher base is what drives the total to 34%.)

That reappraisal saw residential values jump by an average of 68.5%, while the average commercial property increased by just 26.7% from the last reappraisal in 2019. While that means a 10.2% bump in the average homeowner’s tax bill, a commercial property owner with typical value growth would see their tax bill go down by 17.1%.

The state of Tennessee recalculates the tax rate after a reappraisal to equalize the revenue a county gets from property taxes. That’s based on the overall appreciation for all properties, commercial and residential alike. Lumping together residential and commercial, that came out to 54% in Washington County.

That’s why a homeowner whose house appreciated by the average residential amount winds up with a higher tax — even before any rate increase. Absent a voted-in tax hike, any appreciation amount higher than 54% will yield an increased tax bill, and any amount lower will result in a lower tax bill.

In the case of Washington County, that overall 54% appreciation caused the state to set a calculated rate of $1.4071 , down from $2.15. County commissioners took an initial step Tuesday to increase that rate to $1.71, which would generate $16 million more in property tax revenue than last year.

A few theoretical examples

News Channel 11 ran numbers for a low, mid and mid-high-priced home using the average 68% appreciation to determine the before and after tax bill with both the higher-than-average appreciation and a 30-cent tax increase.

Someone whose home was assessed at $100,000 before the reappraisal had a $537.50 county property tax bill last year. That house would have a new appraisal of $168,480. If the county raises taxes 30 cents, that homeowner’s next tax bill would be approximately $720 for a $183 increase.

A home previously assessed at $250,000 would have paid $1,343.75 in county tax last year. A 68% appreciation would put that value at $421,200 and the tax would be $1,801 — a $456 increase.

A previously assessed $400,000 home with previous taxes of $2,150 would be valued at $673,920. Its county tax would be $2,881 if the county raises taxes 30 cents, for a $731 increase.

Two real examples (their city taxes will go up, too)

Two News Channel 11 employees shared their changed appraisals. One is for a four-bedroom craftsman home in south Johnson City’s Tree Streets, the other for a two-bedroom, 2.5-bath townhouse in Boones Creek.

The Tree Streets home had appraised for $238,200 in 2019, which put its county property tax at $1,280 last year. The reappraisal brought that value to $414,000. That’s a 73.8% increase, and even without a tax increase, bumps the tax bill up by $176 a year to $1,456, or 13.8%.

If the county passes a 30-cent increase, the tax bill will be $1,770 — 38%, or $490 higher than last year’s total. And even though Johnson City isn’t raising its tax rate, the fact that the appreciation was well above the countywide average means the home’s city tax will rise as well.

In fact, likely due to the greater concentration of commercial property in Johnson City, the city tax on that home will rise from $1,179 to $1,401 — an 18.8% increase. Likewise, city taxes on a home appreciating by the average residential amount of 68% will go up by 15.2% instead of the 10.2% effect in the county.

The likely end result for the Tree Streets house? A $3,171 combined property tax bill, which is 29% higher than last year’s combined $2,459.

The Boones Creek townhouse is now appraised at $177,600, which is 70.6% higher than the previous $104,100. Its county tax will increase 11.7% without a rate hike, from $560 to $625. A 30-cent increase will take that to $759, for a $200 increase or 36%.

The city taxes on that home will rise 16.7%, from $515 to $601. The total change including county and city: A $285 increase, or 26.5%, from $1,075 to $1,360.

The Washington County Commission expects to finalize its tax rate by the end of June. Johnson City Commission’s first reading on an equalized rate of $1.3541, adjusted down from $1.98, was on its Thursday night agenda. The city increased its tax rate by 25 cents, or 14%, last year.

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