Like other states, Oklahoma continues to wrestle with a state budget crisis with the current fiscal year facing revenue that is 25% below estimates.
That hasn’t stopped average residents in your state from demanding lower property taxes. Property tax relief has become an important topic among Oklahoma voters during the current economic downturn.
In 1996, Oklahoma voters approved a law that placed a 5% annual cap on property value assessments. At the time the law was supposed to help keep property tax valuations under that 5% cap.
That hasn’t happened.
Instead many county assessors have instead raised property tax values a full 5% each and every year since the 1996 law was passed.
How does that sit with you as an Oklahoma voter?
In 2009, the Oklahoma state senate passed Senate Joint Resolution 5 which was designed specifically to reduce the cap on property tax valuations from 5% to 3%.
As the Oklahoma legislature met for the 2010 session there was hope among supporters that the house would take up this measure and vote on it.
That didn’t happen.
The speaker of the Oklahoma house killed this resolution stating that this wasn’t the time to reduce your property taxes. His view was supported by education leaders who view public school education as an important way to develop the economy during this downturn.
If you are an Oklahoma resident and you live in one of those counties where assessors are regularly raising your annual assessment at or near the 5% cap, there is a good chance that the assessed value of your home is too high and you are paying more than your fair share of property taxes.
Now would be a good time to look into appealing your Oklahoma property tax value.
