Why do school boards repeatedly point to reduced tax rates but my taxes continually go up?

It is a ruse.  It is a deception.  It is designed to be misleading.  Why?  If you just read that your tax rate is not going up or has decreased, you will probably believe that your tax bill will not go up.  Probably not so!  Just look at your recent tax bills.  Have they gone down over time?

 

So how does this happen?  If your EAV goes up and the tax rate remains the same, your tax bill goes up.  If your EAV goes up and the tax rate goes down by a very small percentage, then your overall tax bill will still go up. 

 

There are often several individual fund rates within each taxing body's total rate structure.  Some fund rates are capped at a maximum rate unless voter approval is obtained to raise that rate.  They are "restricted fund rates”.  Therefore, as your EAV goes up and the max rate is used your tax bill goes up.

 

Other fund rates are determined by using a set levy dollar amount to determine that particular fund’s rate, such as the Debt Service rate used to pay back bond debt.  This is not a restricted fund rate.  If the dollar amount paid on Debt Service does not change from one year to the next, but the EAV increases, then the Debt Service tax rate decreases, but is paid for by the increase in your EAV.  Thus, as your EAV increases you may have the overall tax rate decreasing while your tax bill goes up.