Setting YOUR Tax Rate

You may be aware that the Platte County R-3 Board of Education voted unanimously to keep our tax rate at $4.19. At first glance, this seems hardly newsworthy. However, much thought went into my recommendation to the school board. This year, because of a substantial decline in personal property values (cars, boats, motorcycles, etc.), the state tax calculation allowed our district to levy an additional $0.22 without a vote of the people to offset the decreased value. The Missouri calculation accounts for increasing property values and/or decreasing property values through the calculated tax rate ceiling that ensures revenue neutrality. Our Board of Education decided unanimously to approve my recommendation to voluntarily reduce our tax rate ceiling in order to keep our tax rate unchanged from a year ago. This difficult decision was done by taking the following into account:

*The current state of the economy is difficult for our taxpayers. Some parents/patrons have seen no pay increase, some have seen a pay decrease and some have lost their jobs. We understand this is a difficult time to raise taxes. While we could put additional revenue to good use, we feel it is fiscally prudent to tighten up our belt.

*We received additional revenue from the state foundation formula that will allow us to "hold the line" by slightly increasing our budget to accommodate for population increases and annual salary schedule movement (no increase to our base salary). Our budget has increased by 3 million per year in recent years, however, our budget only increased by $600,000 this fiscal year.

*This is a reassessment year. This is important because, due to Senate Bill 711, taxing entities that voluntarily reduce their levy during non-reassessment years will permanently lower their ceiling. Basically, this was an option this year because it is a one year decision. Next year is a non-reassessment year. Recommending a voluntary reduction next year will be a multi-year recommendation. Given the uncertainty of our economy and state funding, such a decision would negatively impact our budget long term.

Platte County R-3 values the confidence and trust of our taxpayers. We have and will continue to work hard at being good stewards of your tax dollars. I will be elaborating on this issue in the next edition of Treasures. As always, feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.

Educationally Yours,