Neosho retains 42-cent property tax - Finance Articles, Tutorials ...

The Neosho City Council voted Tuesday to keep the city property tax at the current rate ceiling, with one citizen speaking for the tax and one councilmember voting against it. Neosho's ad valorem tax on real property only for next fiscal year will remain at the rate cap of $.4225-cents per $100 of assessed valuation, the maximum allowed for Neosho this year without a vote of the people to go higher. The property tax generated roughly $400,000 for the city this fiscal year ? the first time Neosho had levied one since 1997. ? Local resident Ken Mayer was the only person to speak Tuesday at a public hearing on the property tax levy. Mayer said he supported the property tax because falling sales tax revenues over the last few years have put a strain on the city's finances. ?I think it's silly to consider not keeping this tax in place until we either find more sales tax revenue or find some other ways to generate revenue,? Mayer said. Mayer did ask, however, if the city council could lower the property tax in the future should sales tax numbers pick up. Mayor Richard Davidson replied the council must set the city's property tax levy every year and that the rate might be anywhere from zero to the tax ceiling determined by the state. however, he noted, the tax rate set for the upcoming fiscal year cannot be changed once it has been submitted to the state for that year, which must be done by Sept. 1. The new fiscal year starts Oct. 1. Mayer said that he paid about $85 in city property taxes this year, which was in addition to county and state property taxes. ?I think I'd be willing to pay $85 to continue to have a police force and fire protection,? Mayer said. ??I think the city property tax is a good thing, moving forward. it will give the city the revenue it needs to continue to improve and get better and hopefully grow.? Councilman Dave Ruth voted against the property tax levy, noting that he was on council in 1997 when the voters were told the property tax would go away in exchange for passing a 3/8-cent sales tax for parks and drainage, which was done. ?I am not going to go back on my word to the citizens and support a property tax when I told them I would not,? Ruth told the Daily afterward. ?I gave my word and I can't go back on it.? he added that the restricted parks and stormwater tax generated about $723,000 this fiscal year and that compared to the $400,000 in property tax revenue for the general fund, he felt it was still a good trade off. While the Missouri Attorney General's office has since advised that the city property tax cannot technically be repealed ? as cities are permitted by the state Constitution to set one every year ? the levy rate can be set at zero. last year, with Neosho facing a critical financial crisis, and the city having already cut the fire and police forces to about half, along with forcing layoffs in other departments, the council at that time voted 4-1 to raise the levy rate from zero to its current ceiling of $.4225 per $100 of assessed valuation. just three weeks earlier, city voters had overwhelmingly turned down a much higher $1 ad valorem tax, which city leaders said would have staved off most of the layoffs, particularly to police and fire. ? By state law, city voters can approve a property tax levy that is above the rate cap, but they're the only ones who can. otherwise, the council on its own can only set the levy as high as that year's allowable ceiling, which is calculated on a number of factors, including prior property tax revenue, growth and new development. But Ruth said he would not support any property tax ? below the rate limit or not ? without a vote of the citizens. ?If this tax was approved by a vote of the people I would support it, but I am not going back on my word,? Ruth said. Councilman Charles Collinsworth said he is ?not big on taxes,? but that with the current fiscal state of the city ?it would have been irresponsible to not continue the (property) tax.? ?and I still don't know if it even goes far enough, but it's better than nothing,? Collinsworth said after the meeting. ?Do I want it on the books forever? No. I hope we reach a point of fiscal soundness that we can let it lapse.? back to zero? ?I hope so but, to be honest with you, I don't see that happening for awhile, what with the current situation of our city,? Collinsworth said. ?That $400,000 goes a long way for a city with the kind of budget crisis that Neosho is in.? Mayor Pro Tem Tom Workman was excused as absent from Tuesday's council meeting and did not vote on the property tax levy. * * * Read more coverage of Tuesday's Neosho City Council meeting in Thursday's Daily News.

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Neosho retains 42-cent property tax

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