Perkins County increases tax asking by just 1% from 2021

By Becky Uehling

Grant Tribune-Sentinel

Thanks to an increase of property valuation in Perkins County by approximately $27 million, the $11.1 million proposed budget for 2022-23 from Perkins County Commissioners will only raise the county’s tax asking by 1%. 

The increase in budget request is mainly due to the current state of inflation and increase in fuel, wages and health care costs, according to Perkins County Commissioner’s Chairman Steve Tucker. This in turn raised the county’s total tax request for the upcoming year from 3,563,087.75 in 2021 to 3,675,247.02 in 2022, an increase of 112,159.27 or 3.15%.

Tucker said he is pleased with how little the tax asking for the county went up for 2022.

“When we first sat down to discuss the budget, we were very concerned that we were looking at something between 5 to 10% increases because fuel prices were taking a toll,” he said. “To keep it around 3% with everything going up is, I feel, a great accomplishment.”

Increase in Valuation

According to Perkins County Assessor Peggy Burton, property valuations went up in the county because of four factors: 1) growth, 2) an increase in the overall value with new houses and farm buildings being built, 3) a 2% increase in the value of dry land, and 4) the fact that the communities of Grant and Venango were revalued.

No Opposition

A hearing on the proposed budget, held on Sept. 6, received no opposition from the public. The final tax request will be set by the commissioners during the Monday, Sept. 19 board meeting.