Boone County property owners will pay less in county taxes this year after the Fiscal Court lowered the real property tax rate to 8.2 cents per $100 of assessed value, down from 8.5 cents in 2025.

The court approved the 2026 rates at its Aug. 25 meeting, according to Commissioner Chet Hand, who is also a candidate for Boone County judge/executive. Hand announced the vote on X the following morning. The tangible (personal) property rate was set at 9.3 cents per $100, also a reduction from the 2025 rate of 9.5 cents.

Based on the rate change, a homeowner with a $300,000 assessed value would save about $9 on the county portion of the annual tax bill, dropping from $255 to $246. That's the county portion alone. The savings is modest, but it marks the second consecutive year the Fiscal Court has set its rate below the compensating rate, which is the level that would generate the same revenue as the prior year.

In 2024, the county's real property rate stood at 9.2 cents. The court cut it to 8.5 cents for 2025, then to 8.2 cents for 2026, a cumulative reduction of more than 10% in two years.

Judge/Executive Gary W. Moore has framed the cuts as a response to rising home values. At the Nov. 4, 2025, Fiscal Court meeting, Moore told a resident that the county reduced its rate by 8% from 2024 to 2025 and explained that increases on a homeowner's total bill can still result from the Property Valuation Administrator raising assessed values or from other taxing bodies raising their own rates.

"Fiscally conservative leadership and a sharp pencil has helped us provide real relief to taxpayers as home values rise," Moore said in August 2025, when the court approved that year's rate cut.

The Fiscal Court sets only the county's own levy. School districts, the health department, the library and fire protection districts each set separate rates that appear on the same tax bill. As we reported Tuesday, rising property values in Boone County have also affected school funding calculations at the state level.

The Boone County Sheriff's Office mails property tax bills, typically in October. Official meeting minutes from the Aug. 25 session have not yet been posted to the county website, and the next regular Fiscal Court meeting date has not been published.