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St. Joseph County residents try to understand increase in tax bills

Written By: Lindsey Sablan

If you live in St. Joseph County, you should have received your tax bill by now.

While you were expecting to receive the bill in the mail, many of you weren't expecting to see an increase in your bill.

Now residents are trying to understand why they're paying more, despite the property tax cap.

Jack Jones saw an increase in his property taxes this year and says, "I was disappointed, yes."

Many St. Joseph County residents reacted just like Jack Jones when they got their tax bills.

After the state legislature capped property taxes, residents were hoping for some relief, but Jones didn't get it.

"I'm not quite sure why. I've got to complete my analysis of it, but I suspect it's because the city's not getting back money from the state that they did last year," says Jones.

St. Joseph County Treasurer Sean Coleman says you should look at two places on your bill to understand why you may see an increase.

Coleman says, "One is the assessment of the property, the assessed value of property. See if there's a significant difference between the first year of assessed evaluation and this years. Secondly, I would tell them to look at the number of state credits."

This year, the property tax relief credit was eliminated and the homestead credit was significantly reduced, which means you could pay more.

St. Joseph County resident Bob Kiefer's property taxes actually dropped, but he's still upset because his overall tax bill went up.

Kiefer says, "The year before taxes went up, my taxes went up 40% and now they came down 40%, but other taxes went up."

Kiefer says with the local option income tax and sales tax increases, he's still paying the same amount.

In today's economy, he says people need a break, "For people who live paycheck to paycheck, I don't know how they do it."

Jones agrees, "You don't like to give up more of your money than you have to."

As for the future, property tax caps will be completely phased in next year and residents hope relief is on its way.

City residents may see an increase compared to county residents, Coleman says that's because city residents pay for another layer of services.

Remember you must pay in person or have your tax bill postmarked by December 11th.