Gibbons Capitol Report-Take Control of your Property Taxes-080207

Gibbons Capitol Report
August 6, 2007

Take Control of Your Property Tax Rates

August is traditionally a busy month for families as we wrap up our summer vacations and turn our focus to the new school year. What most of us don’t know is that August is also the month when local taxing jurisdictions set our property tax rates for the next year. It may not seem like a big deal, but for homeowners who have seen large increases in their assessed value of their homes and property it can mean a big hit to your pocketbook when your property tax bill comes due.

Rolling Back Property Taxes

Missourians adopted the Hancock Amendment to the constitution that set out to protect taxpayers. One way it does that is limiting the amount property taxes can increase to either 5 percent or the current Consumer Price Index(rate of inflation), whichever is lower. Right now, Missouri’s rate of inflation is set at 2.6%. Because of this limitation, taxing jurisdictions, such as school or fire districts, that are at their tax rate ceiling must roll back their rate to make sure taxpayers don’t see increases higher than inflation. However, many local taxing jurisdictions have not proposed to roll back the actual tax rate, rather only the tax rate ceiling which reflects the highest levy voters approved. To meet the spirit of the Hancock Amendment, constituents should encourage taxing jurisdictions to roll back their tax rate, even if it falls below the tax ceiling. That’s because rolling back the tax ceiling year after year does nothing if a taxing jurisdiction’s rate is below the ceiling.

Taking Control

Taxpayers can gain relief by getting involved and asking their taxing jurisdictions to be a friend of taxpayers by rolling back their rate, even if it’s below the tax rate ceiling. There are four simple steps you can do to help take control of the amount of property taxes you pay. First, I encourage you to contact your taxing jurisdictions and find out if they are at their tax rate ceilings. If they are, they must roll back. If they are not, ask them if they plan to roll back. And if they say no, ask them why not. By contacting your taxing jurisdiction board members or attending a public meeting you can potentially influence the tax rate they set. The easiest way to identify your taxing jurisdictions is by looking on your property tax bill from last year. They are usually listed on the right side of the bill.


Friends of Taxpayers

Last week I set out to inform taxpayers what you can do right now to help control your property taxes. For my part, I’m going to watch local taxing jurisdictions and recognize those that do roll back with the “Friend of Taxpayer” Award. I’ll also be taking note of those taxing jurisdictions that don’t roll back to help taxpayers know who’s voting to gain windfalls due to reassessments.

In St. Louis County, there are 249 taxing jurisdictions and 79 of those are not operating at their tax rate ceiling. That means, legally, those 79 jurisdictions don’t have to roll back. But morally, I believe they should. While we’re focused on our daily commitments, taxing jurisdiction boards are setting their rates without anyone holding their feet to the fire. The bottom line with property taxes is that if values go up, rates should come down. Help make that the case in your taxing jurisdictions, get involved this month.

A list of the current tax rates and tax rate ceilings of all taxing jurisdictions in St. Louis County is available online at http://www.senate.mo.gov/, click on the link for the Pro Tem’s Page, and click on Residential Property Tax Information.