Ep26 - Troy White - County Commissioner - a podcast by Brian Cook And Kindra Cox

On Episode 26 of The Brian and Kindra Show, Troy White, County Commissioner for Woodward County District 1 shared some things about how the county operates. As realtors, Brian and Kindra often comment that they have to sell Woodward before they can sell the home as they meet people moving into the area.  Knowing how the county is run and being aware of the financial stability can help in selling the community and homes.  

Traditionally, a County Commissioner is viewed as someone to grade roads. Troy views the job as a Business Manager of the county. A lot of money is spent and comes into the county from property taxes. These funds go towards many things (ex. EMS, D.A.R.E., Ag extension, health dept. etc.) and it all comes across the commissioner’s desk. Woodward County gets roughly 15% of annual property taxes, the remainder goes to the schools. The 15% goes towards aforementioned county services. 

The county road/highway districts do not receive any ad valorem tax dollars. What they do get is money back from the state based on gross production tax, vehicle tax, fuel tax, population, and miles of roads. Every month they get that money to run payroll, purchase rock, run motor graders, etc. The money received is never the same and has had up to 40% difference per month. 

Now, the big question often asked by buyers is how costly are the annual ad valorem taxes of a property they are interested in purchasing.  Additionally, we have many current owners asking why their property tax increases. It’s a challenging subject and can leave many in heated discussions!  The county assessor has a very complex job in assessing properties. Many believe the assessor is who holds the power in determining how much to tax, but that isn’t the case!  The assessor is actually told when and how much to raise the property taxes in the county by the State of Oklahoma.  The assessor is really more of an administrator of what the state mandates.  

Brian and Kindra encourage you to reach out to your county officials to engage in further healthy discussion.  Their positions hold much more responsibility than one may expect and they have great information to help us all better understand the workings of the county government to keep Woodward a great place to live.  

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