by Kate Shunney
The assessed value of real estate, personal property and public utilities in Morgan County rose by $59.7 million over the previous taxable year, according to figures released last week by the Morgan County Assessor’s office.
The total assessed valuation of the county’s property for tax purposes is now $1,289,221,229 for the 2024 tax cycle.
In 2023, that figure was $1,229,522,422.
The 2024 figure will be used as a basis for the county’s budget preparations, which begin this week, and for budgeting being done by the Morgan County Board of Education, Town of Bath and the Town of Paw Paw for the coming year.
Property inside the two municipalities increased in value at a rate of 5.8% in the Town of Paw Paw and 1.4% in the Town of Bath, according to value figures.
Countywide, Class II and Class III property values rose at the same rate – up 5% over 2023.
The value of Class II property – primary owner-occupied real estate and farms – was reported as $842,962,216, up from $802,991,923 last year.
The value of Class III property – primarily commercial and rental property – is reported as $399,072,614, up from $380,217,652 from 2023.
Class IV property inside the limits of the two municipalities but exclusive of owner-occupied properties went up in value by 1.9%
Properties inside the Town of Bath is worth $47,931,299, according to assessment figures. That was just a 1.4% increase over 2023 values.
Property inside the Town of Paw Paw is worth $19,190,474, up from $18,146,406 from 2023 – a value increase of 5.8%. Owner-occupied property in the Town of Paw Paw saw the biggest jump in value, with a growth of 8.7%.
Morgan County’s tax levying bodies – the Morgan County Commission, Board of Education, Bath town council and Paw Paw council – will each set their tax rates in April and May. That rate will be multiplied by the assessed value of property to determine what tax revenue each level of government will take in for the coming tax year.
Those rates will appear on the tax bills property owners will receive later this summer for property they owned on July 1, 2023.
