Putnam 2023 Property Tax Notice To Be Sent Friday; Due February

Putnam County 2023 tax notices are going out in the mail on Friday, and citizens can expect a higher bill.

The higher property taxes can be attributed to the Putnam County Commission raising the property tax rate. Property Assessor Steve Pierce said that the rate has increased from 2.472 percent to 2.66 percent, an 18.8 cent tax increase.

“That’s a big misconception with our office, a lot of people think we have something to do with the rate and we don’t, we do the appraisal and assessments,” Piece said. “In fact, we can’t even see the tax bills ourselves, we have to go to the state website ourselves.”

Pierce said that citizens can start payments on October 1st. The bills are due February 28, 2024. After the 28th penalties may apply. Pierce said those needing assistance can apply for tax relief through the Trustees office.

“And that’s a good program that’s out there, especially for elderly, it’s part of the requirement, it could be veterans, it could be disabled veterans, something like that,” Pierce said. “Those are the groups of people in our county that we need to help.”

Pierce said the total tax revenue for property taxes in Putnam sits right under $60 million based on most recent reports.

Pierce said new construction additions or remodeling on a property can influence the bill presented in the tax notice.

“By state law, we can only pro-rate those up till September 1,” Pierce said. “Which means if you’re building a house and you’re finishing it in July then we go ahead and add the date it was ready to be moved into something like that.”

Pierce said the process continues throughout the year according to a state-issued appraisal system. Pierce said the system is preparing a reappraisal for 2026. Piece said he and his office regularly review over ten thousand properties yearly throughout the county.