It didn't get much coverage in the media, but Houston County quietly set property tax millage rates for 2008 at last Monday's county commission meeting. Rates for this year will remain the same as last year at 21.5 mills for the county assessment (A mill is equal to one-tenth of a cent). In 2007, there was an increase of two mills passed along to Houston County property owners to meet a requirement by the state of at least 10 mills for all Alabama public schools. Before last year, Houston County collected eight mills for local schools. Who gets the highest property tax bill every year in Houston County? Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant gets a bill for over $9 million every year. That is over 40% of all property taxes collected in the county last year.

So how do our property tax rates compare to other states? Alabama has some of the lowest property tax rates in the country, second only to Louisiana in median property tax rate per $1,000 of property value (Click here for the report).

This gives us a good opportunity to discuss how property taxes are calculated in here in Houston County. The surrounding counties of Dale, Henry, Geneva, and Coffee are likely calculated the same, but their millage rates may vary slightly. For our example, we will assume a property is homesteaded, or in other words, is the primary residence of the taxpayer.

The accessed value needed to calculate the amount of property tax due is figured by taking 10% of the appraisal value, as determined by the county. Next, multiply your accessed value by your total millage rate, which is 33 mills if you live in the city limits of Dothan, Ashford, Columbia, Gordon, Webb, Kinsey, Taylor, Rehobeth, or Madrid, or 28 mills if you don't.

Now let's do with math with a median priced home inside the city limits of Dothan.

• $133,000 tax appraised value X 10% = $13,300 tax assessed value
• $13,300 X 0.033 (millage rate from above) = $438.90 property taxes.
• Actually, you get to take off $49 on homesteaded property, so the total property taxes due would be about $390 per year on a median priced home.

For non-homesteaded property, multiply the appraised value by 20% instead of 10%, and don't deduct the $49.

As with anything the government does, there are lots of exceptions and exemptions. We'll try to cover some of those in a later post, but you can ask a specific question by commenting below if you like. Property is appraised in Houston County annually in late summer, before the tax year starts on October 1.