Howard County 2021 property tax collection rate up from 2020

Tyler Juranovich, Kokomo Tribune, Ind.
·1 min read

Jan. 19—Howard County property tax collections continue to be strong.

The county's 2021 total collection rate was 96%, Treasurer Christie Branch announced Tuesday at the Board of Commissioners meeting. Specifically, the spring collection rate was 99%, an amount Branch called "astonishing." The fall collection rate was lower at 94%. In 2020, the county had a 95% total collection rate.

In 2021, the county collected $101,920,748.76 in property taxes. That's an increase of 4.4% compared to 2020, when $97,596,785.06 in total property taxes were collected.

Revenue from the county's Innkeeper's Tax for 2021 was $988,383.84. That's a noticeable, but not unsurprising, increase from 2020's revenue of $753,474.75 because the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the local hotels and lodging facilities have waned.

Branch noted that the county has yet to collect December Innkeeper's Tax revenue from six local lodging facilities, so 2021's revenue will be slightly larger than the aforementioned figure once that revenue comes in.

Tyler Juranovich can be reached at 765-454-8577, by email at tyler.juranovich@kokomotribune.com or on Twitter at @tylerjuranovich.