The ACHD Commission adopted a
fiscal 2010-2011 budget on August 25, 2010 that
again
avoided an increase in the overall amount of tax
revenue collected from Ada County property owners.
Under state law, ACHD could increase the tax rate up to three percent from
last year and could also include an increase to match the amount of growth
(newly improved properties) on the county's tax roll. For the second year
running, Commissioners said the budget should be based on the same amount of
revenue, essentially avoiding an increase in the property tax levy.
Commissioners said they did not want to enlarge the overall tax burden while
the economy remains shaky. Accordingly, they directed staff earlier this summer to make $1.3 million
in cuts to the proposed budget, delaying equipment purchases, signal timing and
networking projects and land purchases for upcoming projects. ACHD managers said
the cuts could be made without significant project delay or degradation to the
operation and maintenance of the roadways.
Even without taking the allowed increases, however, the amount of taxes paid
by a property owner could go up, a function of the shrinking value of the
county's total taxable value. Property values have fallen over the past few
years, which means that to generate the same amount of tax revenue as
last year, many property owners will pay more.
For 2011, the median home in Ada County is estimated to be worth $159,800.
The owner of that home would pay $93.83 in taxes to ACHD, under the proposed
budget. By comparison, in 2010, that home was worth $160,875, and the owner paid
$82.30 in taxes to the District.
If Commissioners took the increases allowed by law, the taxes paid by
residential property owners would have increased by an additional $4, depending on the
value of the property.
In the past year, total assessed value of property within Ada County has
decreased 12.9 percent. To avoid paying additional taxes in 2011, a property
owner's assessment must have gone down by 13 percent or more in value from the
prior year.
Fiscal 2011 Budget
Fiscal 2011 Budget -- Full Document
(large file ~ 11 megs)
Budget by Chapter: