Local Taxes
Local government, with close state supervision, collects property taxes on real and tangible personal property.
Jefferson County Property Tax Rates
Local Property Taxes
Taxpayer: Owners of real property and tangible personal property located in Indiana on the date of assessment. The assessment date is March 1.
Land: The assessed value of land is determined by the local land committee in each county. Generally, the true value is the cost or value of the land.
Buildings: Real estate assessments for buildings and improvements are determined by using the rules of the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance. Assessments are based on 1991 construction costs, which are approximately 70% of current construction costs.
Tax Base: Property taxes in Indiana are imposed at the local level on real property (land and buildings) and certain types of personal property. Business personal property consists of machinery and equipment, special tooling, and construction in progress.
Tax Rate: Property tax rates are based on a "rate per hundred" dollars of assessed value. Township and county officials determine the assessed value of personal property annually and of real property every four years. The property is assessed at market value. Market value is determined through the application of the rules of the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance.
Credits: The state, through the Property Tax Replacement Credit, rebates to every property taxpayer, individual and corporate, approximately 15% of their property taxes, both real and personal.
Major Deductions and Exemptions: Property tax deductions reduce the assessed value of taxable property. Major deductions include economic revitalization area deductions for real and personal property (property tax abatement), deduction for resource recovery and hazardous waste recovery systems, deduction for coal conversion systems, and solar energy deductions. Major exemptions include air and water pollution control equipment; property used for educational, scientific, literary or charitable purposes.
Personal Property
Depreciable Personal Property: Depreciable personal property (machinery, equipment, and office furniture) is to be the cost or basis utilized for federal income tax purposes with the true tax value determined by multiplying the adjusted cost of each year's acquisitions by a percentage based on the life of the asset. True tax value percentages, in general, follow double-declining balance depreciation procedures.
Special Tools: Special tools are property, such as tools, dies, molds, jigs and patterns used for the production of specific products or product models. The usefulness of special tools ceases with the modification or discontinuation of the product or product model. The true tax value of special tools purchased in the previous 12 months is 30% of cost, while all other special tools on hand are valued at 3% of cost.
Personal Property Not Placed in Service: Personal property not placed in service as of the assessment date (such as construction in progress) qualifies as a special valuation item. The true tax value of personal property not placed in service is 10% of cost.
Note: The total valuation of a taxpayer's assessable depreciable personal property in a single taxing district cannot be less than 30% of the adjusted cost of all such property in a single taxing district. For more specific information, please refer to the Indiana Code (IC) or the Indiana Administrative Code (IAC). The statutes regarding property-tax assessment are generally found in IC 6-1.1, and the regulations of the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance can be found in 50 IAC.
Local Income Taxes
Eighty-Eight counties of the 92 in Indiana have elected to impose a local income tax.
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