The timing for setting property taxes for Danville may have been different, but the ad valorem rate on real property passed Wednesday was the same as the current year.
Danville City Commission voted unanimously — commissioner J.H. Atkins did not attend — during a special meeting to pass the second reading of real and tangible property taxes at the compensating rate, a calculation meant to produce about the same amount of revenue. The rates passed a first reading at a special meeting on Tuesday.
The real estate tax will stay at 13 cents per $100 of valuation, while the tangible property tax will drop from 16 cents to 15.6 cents per $100.
Local governments have a 45-day window from the time the state certifies the property valuation numbers to set tax rates. Last year, as in previous years, the City Commission had passed the first and second reading during its regular September sessions.
The city has until later this month to set the rates, but City Clerk Donna Peek said there was some haste to establish the rates so the county can begin mailing tax bills. She said the state actually signed off on the numbers July 23.
According to Mayor Bernie Hunstad, the certification from the state of property valuation figures had been sent to the city's financial advisors, but was not brought to the attention of city staff until later in August.
In other business, the City Commission voted to approve the deed of conveyance and the settlement statement, which is a breakdown of charges related to borrowing money in a real estate transaction, for the BISCO building on South Third Street. The city bought the building at auction last month for $1.23 million.
Commissioner Ryan Montgomery, whose father Mike Montgomery had been a tenant in the building and collected rent on behalf of its owner Mitchell Barnes of Lexington, recused himself from the vote.
