The Pulaski County treasurer's office will mail out tax bills to county property owners later this month for $437.7 million.
That is an increase of $7 million -- 1.6 percent -- from last year, when the county mailed out $430.7 million in tax bills.
This year, the treasurer's office will collect property taxes on 2015 properties. But in most of the broadest measures, 2015 was a below-average year for property tax growth.
A lot of that is attributable to two airlines, Frontier and Republic, that once paid property taxes in Pulaski County but ceased operation at Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field, said Chief Deputy Assessor Joe Thompson. Additionally, Cricket Communications left the county and CenturyLink and Qwest Communications completed consolidation. Those business decisions helped contribute to a $1.1 million loss in public service property taxes compared with 2014.
In the past five years, the county has seen an increase in property tax bills of at least 2.5 percent -- about $10 million or more -- reflecting new construction, new purchases and appreciation of property values over time.
But in 2015, the amount of taxes collectible on personal property -- such as cars or boats -- went down by about $1 million, along with the $1.1 million already lost on the Public Service Commission personal property that included the airlines and telecommunications businesses.
"Individual personal property went down," Thompson said. "We have almost the exact same number of parcels this year as we do last year, so I'm a bit surprised that it has gone down. We're looking for a reason.
"People's cars are older, but at the same time people are buying cars. It doesn't happen very often."
Real estate property taxes grew by $7.6 million -- nearly $200,000 more than the average over the past six years -- and business property taxes grew by $1.6 million. Business property taxes are typically included in personal property tax totals, so a comparison to previous tax-year reports was unavailable Friday.
Property tax bills are mailed out in February and March and are due Oct. 15. Property taxes not paid by that time are subject to a 10 percent late fee.
Most property taxes go to local school districts.
If all property taxes are collected, $153 million would go to Little Rock schools, $92 million to Pulaski County Special district schools, $33.7 million to North Little Rock schools, $13.1 million to Jacksonville/North Pulaski schools and $100,934.29 to East End schools.
County and city general funds and road funds would receive tens of millions of dollars. Jacksonville does not receive property tax revenue in its general fund but receives property taxes for its road fund.
Additionally, the Central Arkansas Library System would receive $15.9 million, the North Little Rock library system would receive $3.1 million and Arkansas Children's Hospital would receive about $4 million.
Property taxes also contribute to police and fire pensions in Little Rock, North Little Rock and Jacksonville.
Pulaski County billed residents for $430.7 million in property taxes for 2014 and collected $415 million -- a 96 percent collection rate, Chief Deputy Treasurer Bentley Hovis said.
"Which is really good for a county of our size," he added.
Property taxes are determined by millage rates. A mill is one-tenth of 1 cent. Millage rates vary depending on the area of each county. To determine how much is collected, 20 percent of a property's assessed value is multiplied by that area's millage rate.
Millage rates largely have not changed in Pulaski County since a 2012 increase approved by voters in the North Little Rock School District for facility improvements.
Little Rock lowered its capital improvement millage from 1.9 mills to 1.8, a difference that amounted to $298,004.04 less in property taxes than in 2014.
Total property taxes for 2015 were $467 million, compared with $460 million in 2014, without factoring in the Amendment 79 homestead credit that applies to certain properties in the county. The $437.7 million and $430.7 million totals reflect the homestead credit.
Amendment 79 says, among other things, that after reappraisals that occur every three years, residents' tax bills cannot rise more than 5 percent on real estate or 10 percent for other property. There is no bottom for how far property values or tax bills can drop. But values rise up to 5 percent or 10 percent each year on higher-valued properties until the new value is reached or a reappraisal occurs.
The previous reappraisal was in 2012, and the next reappraisal is in 2017, which will be reflected in 2018 property tax bills.
Metro on 02/08/2016