Kanawha County's school board signed off this week on slightly lowering the rates for the excess levy property taxes that support the local public school system.
Briana Warner, the system's communications director, said the vote was 3-0, with members Jim Crawford, Ryan White and Becky Jordon voting for it. Board members Ric Cavender and Pete Thaw were not in attendance.
Lisa Wilcox, the system's treasurer, said the "median taxpayer" should expect to pay $3 less in property taxes to the system on the tax bills being sent out this fall. The school system defined "median taxpayer" as someone with a house valued at $150,000 and a vehicle valued at $15,000.
Wilcox said an increase in the county's assessed property values means that the school system's excess levy property tax rates need to be slightly decreased in order to keep the amount of money raised below the roughly $44.2 million excess levy revenue cap that county voters set when they voted for the excess levy taxes.
For next fiscal year, if Kanawha had - like some other counties - a "100 percent" excess levy instead of a capped levy, the school system would receive $23.2 million extra.
The excess levy rate for farms and owner-occupied residential property will drop from 30.28 cents per $100 of assessed valuation of property to 30.1 cents per $100 on the bills being sent out this fall. Other types of property will also see slight rate decreases.
The regular levy property tax rates will remain the same.