The City of Bowling Green’s personal property tax rate is expected to remain steady and the tax rate for real estate may be slightly lowered, with a public hearing on the tax rates scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall.

The real estate tax rate is proposed to be lowered from $0.205 per $100 of assessed value to $0.204 per $100.

Katie Schaller-Ward, chief financial officer for the City of Bowling Green, said this means on a piece of property with an assessed value of $100,000, the owner will owe $204 in taxes instead of $205.

“Real estate is the property you own,” Schaller-Ward said. “It could be your main household property. It could be a farm. It could be a business. But if you own the property, that’s the real estate.”

Schaller-Ward said the personal property rate impacts “tangible property” owned by businesses, such as equipment. This rate was set at $0.260 per $100 over two decades ago and has not changed since.

She said the reason for the real estate rate change comes from state statute. By law, a municipality cannot exceed 4% growth in existing property value without lowering the real estate tax rate. The city currently sits at 4.8% growth.

“We could keep it at .205, but it’s a complicated process for us to do that, and it’s not really worth it for $1,” Schaller-Ward said.

Total value of existing property in Bowling Green stands at over $7 billion. The city has reported over $562 million in total property value growth. Schaller-Ward said of that, around $250 million is new growth.

“New growth, new real estate, brand new developments, that kind of stuff is not part of this number,” she said. “This is existing properties.”

Values of property are assessed by the Warren County Property Valuation Administrator – not by city government. The amount that shows up on a property owner’s tax bill in the fall is determined by how much their home, land or owned property is valued at.

Assessed values for 2024 were established on Jan. 1.