Board Votes to Set General Fund Tax Rate at $.5951

Tuesday night, saw the largest audience for a board of aldermen meeting since a March 21 meeting that addressed the Freymuth Road sidewalk.

This time, the issue was the city's proposed property tax rate.

In April, the . Facing a decrease in the city's assessed valuation, the board decided to set the general obligation fund to $.4217, compared to 2010's $.3994, in order to make up for that lost revenue. Not doing so would have required the city to tap its reserves to make bond payments, and could result in a lowering of the city's credit rating.

For the board, the decision on that part of the levy was made—a done deal.

Conflicts arose, however over the general fund portion of the levy. Instead of the $.5951 rate—same as the previous year—that was submitted in April, the board was looking Tuesday night at approving a rate of $.6303, in order to make up for the $166,499 in tax revenue that would be lost due to reassessment.

Missouri's Hancock Amendment allows for such adjustments so that communities can remain "tax neutral."

However, many residents saw this as having their taxes raised, and they made sure their aldermen knew that they weren't happy about it.

Resident Richard Morris said, "We should be looking at lowering taxes rather than raising them . . . Why can’t the homeowner get a break?"

Another resident brought up new businesses in the city and said, "With all these streams of income, the adjustment to the tax rate is not wise at this point. The burden to the individual is significant."

Mayor Mike Potter tried to give an example to show that the burden was reasonable. "If you had a $250,000 home, and even if your assessed value didn’t go down, but stayed the same, you’re talking about an increase of $30 for the year."

"Being on Social Security, I find it harder to make ends meet . . . that little $30 will come in handy some day," Morris said.

A third resident urged to city to "start living within your means. Don’t have these stormwater projects if they’re not exceptionally needed. Do a little at a time. . . stormwater projects aren’t helping me a bit. Everybody here has a budget. Unless you can convince me that what is needed is needed by everyone here, then trash it."

Coming to a Vote

Later in the meeting, when the bill for the tax levy came up, Alderman George Rich made a motion to amend the rate to $.5951, keeping it the same as last year. John Pellerito was the single dissenting vote.

After the vote setting the rate was over, Pellerito asked to speak. "This was a difficult decision, and a very unpopular one. My responsibility as an elected offical is providing the service necessary for the efficient operation of the city. What we’ve just done will not allow the city to fix the infrastructure of the city. It’s going to downgrade the city. We’re not increasing your taxes, but your city won’t be able to operate the way it did before."

During board comment time, Alderman Kathy Schweikert said, "This was a tough decision for me. I agree with the Mayor and Alderman Pellerito . . . but I’ve never received so much input and I have to look at everything. Just remember that everything isn’t going to be done the way everyone wants, and that's a tough decision also."

Larry DeGroodt, newly appointed to fill Harry Slyman's seat, said, "I cannot disagree with what the mayor and John have said. But I do agree that even 30 bucks is 30 bucks. But you have to understand . . . every (city) bill we have is going to go up, so something else is going to get cut. Hopefully the sales taxes will grow and cover the shorts. 'Hopefully' is the key word."

DeGroodt encouraged residents to check out the city's budget online.

"You won't find any luxury cars in the budget," he said. "Let's hope that we can keep things going a little bit longer—but there will be things that won’t get done."