Thank You - Citizens of Blanchard

   In 2008, Blanchard voters approved a bond issue for building a new high school for students and the community. The school has been making payments for this new school since then, at about $2 million per year. The bond is set to be retired in June of 2020, so I thought it would be a good time to review school bond structures - the way money is acquired and spent.
   Many people, when buying a $100,000 home, can't pay cash - so must mortgage the home and make monthly or annual payments for 10, 15, 20, or 30 years. When voters approved purchasing the new high school, they also approved making payments for its acquisition. It was a 12-year mortgage, so citizens will be making the last annual payment in 2020. The "payments" to the lien holder have averaged about $2 million per year. The county or school treasurer must adjust the millage rates each year, so that enough money is collected in the bond or sinking fund to make the appropriate payment. The county assessor, by law, cannot adjust the assessed value of any property, so that the appropriate payment can be made. The assessor also cannot adjust any market value upward, more than 3% each year, even if a property market value increases more than 3%. The property tax that any home owner pays is derived by multiplying an assessment figure (typically 11% of any homes market value) by the millage rate. A simple example would be: A home's market value is $100,000, so the assessment for property tax purposes is set at 11%, or $11,000. This $11,000 is multiplied by the millage rate, lets say 100 mils, so the math to calculating your property tax bill is $11,000 x .100 (one mil is one-one thousandth of a dollar) = $1,100. Only the bond or sinking fund millage rate may be adjusted each year for acquiring the appropriate bond payments. In other words, the bond millage may increase or decrease, based on the total market value of all property. In 2017, the actual millage rate for Blanchard Public Schools was $131.80. For a $100,000 market value home, the property tax payed was .13180 x $11,000 = $1449.80. The millage rate was adjusted so that the school could make the appropriate $2 million payment. Anything less would mean default by the school, and a judge would order the appropriate increase.
   The good news is this: In 2018, when citizens pay property taxes, they will discover that the millage rate will have decreased to $120.75. When the $11,000 is multiplied by .12075, the $100,000 home tax will slip to $1,328.25, a decrease of 8.38%. The reason for this decrease is that property value in the Blanchard District increased by 8.38%. Property value increases resulted in millage rate decreases.