CLARION, Pa. (EYT) — SmartAsset, a financial technology company, recently ranked Clarion County as fourth among Pennsylvania’s 67 Counties in providing the biggest “bang” on property taxes.
The third annual study on property taxes by SmartAsset, neighboring Armstrong County ranked 17th.
The study also analyzed the quality of local schools and the local crime rates to find where people were seeing the most value.
“The fact that Clarion County has ranked number four out of 67 counties for the analysis on the combination of lowest effective tax rate, school ratings, and crime index is impressive,” said Clarion County Commissioner Ed Heasley (pictured above).
During the 2016 calendar year, Clarion County logged approximately 40 land development projects. The estimated cost of 13 of the 40 projects exceeds $19.4 million in new construction.
“We have great communities in Clarion County,” said Heasley. “Low tax rates and the ‘Best Bang for your Property Tax Dollars,’ fuels growth, and development in today’s economy. Clarion County has much to offer, in terms of community, scenery, and outdoor activities. We just need more quality jobs in the area, and that starts with commercial development.”
Clarion County, according to Heasley, is slowly developing by working together to promote the new economic development, harness new technology growth, and employment growth. At the same time, Clarion County also needs to support and promote current business, industry, and manufacturers.
“Clarion County is working hard to control its operating cost to maintain low taxes,” said Heasley. “Additionally, most local legislative districts within the county are doing a remarkable job in keeping their property taxes low, also. When individuals and developers outside the county see this article, they can recognize how affordable our land and homes are, which may bring more people and developers to the county.”
“This study should be used as a marketing tool to bring in more economic growth to industries, as well as lure quality families and retirees to our county.”
Clarion County’s state rank was four, its national rank was 838, school rank was 7.0, crimes per 100k people was 1,599, and property tax rate was 1.15 percent.
Armstrong County’s state rank was 17, national rank was 1,175, school ranking was 4.00, crimes per 100k were 884, and property tax rate was 1.81.
Methodology
SmartAsset explained its methodology in developing its list.
As a way to measure the quality of schools, we calculated the average math and reading/language arts proficiencies for all the school districts in the country. Within each state, these schools were then ranked between 1 and 10 (with 10 being the best) based on those average scores.
For each county, we calculated the violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents.
Using the school and crime numbers, we calculated a community score. This is the ratio of the school rank to the combined crime rate per 100,000 residents.
We used the number of households, median home value, and average property tax rate to calculate a per capita property tax collected for each county.
Finally, we calculated a tax value by creating a ratio of the community score to the per capita property tax paid. This shows us the counties in the country where people are getting the most bang for their buck or where their property tax dollars are going the furthest.
For more information, got to Property Tax: Which Counties are Getting the Best Bang for Their Buck.
