Cape County commissioners to consider property tax Thursday

Since 1979, Cape Girardeau County has had the authority to collect property taxes but seldom has. That may change come Thursday.

Public hearings before setting tax levy rates this year will include a consideration by county commissioners whether to set a rate that won't make tax bills rise significantly, according to Auditor Pete Frazier. Action by commissioners to raise it above zero would slow a decline of the county's unspent balance at the end of each year.

By Frazier's estimates, annual amounts added to what property owners are already paying will likely range between $10 and $30 if commissioners approve setting the levy rate at the proposed amount, which is $0.038 per $100 assessed valuation. That should generate around $425,000 to help make up for a $250,000 deficiency between 2012's budgeted expenditures and anticipated revenue -- which Frazier and county Treasurer Roger Hudson attribute to less money coming in while costs of goods and services are continually rising.

"Revenues are not rolling in by any means," Frazier said.

Hudson said Cape Girardeau County is not spending much more now than it has in recent years when the amount is compared with rising costs, and said revenue is hurting from nearly flat sales tax revenue, a reduction in revenue coming from other local fees and a reduction in reimbursements from the state.

Sales tax revenue in the county has gone up an average of 2.2 percent over the past five years, which Hudson said is a very slow growth. Some years the county saw a loss of revenue from the previous year.

For now, the county's finances remain in the black.

"We aren't out of money, and we aren't going to run out this year or next," Frazier said. "But I have to be looking ahead, and I have to give the commission the scenario that it could be worse than it is now. I'm just giving a recommendation based on what the numbers show."

The county's revenue stream became based on sales taxes in 1979 with voter approval, which applied a "discount" to property tax rates, according to Frazier. Missouri statutes say a county may enact a reduction in property taxes for each year in which a sales tax is imposed.

"This was passed as a safety net of sorts whenever sales tax revenue failed to keep funds flowing in steadily," Frazier said.

He said that while the county has had the authority to collect the tax, it did so only in 1980 and 1981. The rate would need to be amended this year because it is an assessment year, which is the only time the levy can be raised, also according to state statute.

Hudson gave several examples of where the county is seeing lighter fee revenue, such as prisoner housing fees for the sheriff's department. County officials also have to account for sales tax revenue it anticipates will drop due to no longer being able to charge tax on vehicles purchased outside Missouri or to vehicles sales between individuals. That situation could change if the state legislature overrides a veto by Gov. Jay Nixon during a special session this week.

Presiding Commissioner Clint Tracy did not return a call Monday regarding the hearings to set levy rates.

SB40 tax unchanged

A levy for the county's Senate Bill 40 board is proposed not to change after being rolled back by half last year. Tracy and Associate Commissioner Paul Koeper voted to do so after they voiced concerns over the board's money going to pay attorney's fees in a legal dispute with VIP Industries and what they described as a "failure" by the board to show plans to provide additional services. The Senate Bill 40 board oversees tax funds collected for a sheltered workshop for developmentally disabled people. Board members are appointed by commissioners. Board members were concerned last year when the commission rolled back the levy that it would not be restored in full this year and that the ability to fund services could be affected.

Associate Commissioner Jay Purcell said he will not vote in favor of enacting the levy rate that would help make up for the hit to the county's unspent balance.

"This is the same old story that government always gives the citizens -- is that it's not that much and that's how they raise taxes incrementally, whether it's quarter-percent, half a percent," he said.

Purcell said the county is spending more than it has been bringing in.

Frazier said the county has kept expenditures in check, but the revenue has really fluctuated.

"There's a lot of moving targets in that revenue stream, and that's what makes it so different lately," he said.

Purcell said he also believes the county's decline in the unspent balance would be much higher if the county hadn't refinanced jail bonds last year.

eragan@semissourian.com

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