April 28, 2023
Montgomery County jurisdictions received more property tax revenue during this year’s first-half tax distribution than ever before.
On April 28, Montgomery County Auditor Karl Keith announced the result of 2023’s first-half property tax distribution, which sent more than $561 million in revenue to the county’s school districts, cities and other governmental entities.
This record total is in part due to new multi-million-dollar levies approved by the voters last year. A new Kettering City School levy, passed last November, will provide an additional $9 million in revenue for the district each year. Voters also approved a Miami Valley Fire District levy in November, which consolidated existing levies in Miamisburg and Miami Township and will generate an additional $7 million in annual revenue for fire services in those jurisdictions. In addition, more than $241 million in new construction was added to the county’s tax base in 2023, generating new revenue for the county’s taxing entities.
The primary beneficiaries of property tax revenue are school districts. About 57 cents of every property tax dollar in the county goes to a local school district.
Centerville City Schools received the most revenue of any school district during the first-half distribution, with more than $55 million in property tax revenue. Kettering and Dayton City Schools followed, with about 53 million each.
“One of the benefits of the property tax is that the revenue stays local. Your dollars are used to fund the services in your community that you rely on, such as your local police and fire departments,” said Keith. “Your tax dollars are not going to fund the schools or cities in other parts of the county, which is a misconception that we often hear from property owners.”
Montgomery County Human Services is the single largest recipient of property tax revenue in the county, despite making-up only about 13% of the average property tax bill. The countywide human services and disability services levies generated more than $75 million in revenue during the first-half of 2023. These funds support a number of county services, including public health, children services, addiction services and senior services.
Municipalities are another major recipient of property tax dollars. Montgomery County’s cities, townships and villages received $96 million in the first-half distribution. Of that total, Washington Township and Dayton generated the most revenue, each with more than $13 million.
The county treasurer’s office collects property taxes on behalf of the county’s local governments. These taxes are paid in halves, with first-half taxes due in February and second-half taxes due in July of each year. After each collection period, the county auditor’s office accounts for and distributes that revenue to each jurisdiction. The distribution process is not a simple task. There are 97 taxing districts in the county, each with a different tax rate, so auditor’s office staff must make complex calculations to ensure each taxing entity receives the correct amount of funds.
To best reflect the total revenue each jurisdiction received, the calculations reported here include delinquent taxes and revenue gained from special assessments and Tax Increment Financing (TIF) districts. They also include revenue from Ohio’s property tax rollback payments, which the state uses to reimburse local governments for revenue lost to state tax relief programs like the Homestead Exemption.