Callaway County commissioners set 2016 tax levy

While the numbers keep changing, Callaway County commissioners approved the 2016 tax levy on Monday.
The general revenue levy was set at the maximum allowed, at .3368 per $100 of assessed value. The special road and bridge levy was set at .2608 per $100 of assessed value.
"We're going to set the levy with the information we have," said Doc Kritzer, Western District commissioner. "We just want to go on record as saying this is the third correction we've had, and that affects not just the county but the city of Fulton, Fulton Public Schools, the Callaway County Ambulance District and a number of (governmental) organizations."
The tax levy, by state law, has to be set by the beginning of September, according to Gary Jungermann, presiding commissioner.
"We're actually working off revised numbers, and we found out Friday there may be more," he said Monday. "But we're running out of time, so we have to do it."
The process of setting the levy includes reports of assessed real estate and personal property values that go from the county assessor to the county clerk to the state tax commission. When the first report came out on July 25, the valued amount of new construction was $13,740,094. That number was incorrect as two TIF districts were ending, and those values were supposed to be added to that figure.
"This year, the TIF for Dollar General (distribution center) and the Tanglewood expansion expired," Kritzer said.
The Tanglewood TIF included a housing development and business park that paid off a golf course the city took over as the owner became financially incapable of paying for it. The county is home to just one TIF district now, home to a shopping area in south Fulton.
Because those TIFs expired (bonds were paid off), that tax money will now be distributed among other taxing agencies in the county. About $14 million in property will now be taxable, according to county commissioners.
The new total for new construction value was amended to $28,657,244, but the second form didn't have a number for road and bridge.
"It only corrected general revenue, not road and bridge," Kritzer said. "The numbers look reasonable, but we can't tell if they're correct. We can come back and readdress."
The county clerk, Denise Hubbard, was notified Aug. 10 but as of Monday, an amended version still wasn't supplied, he added.
"I called the (state) tax commissioner but was told she (Hubbard) had to fix it online," he said. "We've waited 10 days."
The 2016 assessed real estate valuation in Callaway County is $593,821,229, compared to $565, 476,902 the previous tax year. The assessed value of personal property decreased from $190,936,927 in 2015 to $190,001,347 in 2016.
The overall total increased from $756,413,829 in 2015 to $783,822,576 in 2016, an increase of about $27.4 million. That includes local and state assessed railroad and utilities.