Cole County Commission approves setting 2018 tax levy

Flags flutter in strong winds Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2017, at the Cole County Courthouse in Jefferson City.
Flags flutter in strong winds Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2017, at the Cole County Courthouse in Jefferson City.

The Cole County Commission approved setting the tax levy for 2018 Tuesday after no one spoke for or against the issue during a public hearing.

The commission sets two tax levy rates each year - general revenue and public works. Both are due Sept. 1.

The commission set this year's tax levy at 7 cents per $100 of assessed valuation for general revenue and 27.2 cents per $100 of assessed valuation for public works.

Since 2009, commissioners have been reducing the general fund rate with a 60 percent rollback in tax collection because of the 2008 sales tax approved by voters to pay for ambulance and service operations. The county's plan raised money through a half-cent sales tax, with 60 percent of the money collected used to reduce taxes for all Cole County property owners. The rest of the money collected pays for the ambulance service.

Last year, the commission set the general revenue levy at 8.2 cents per $100 assessed valuation and kept the public works/road and bridge levy at the 2016 rate of 27.1 cents per $100 assessed valuation.

Cole County Finance Officer Debbie Malzner last week suggested dropping the general revenue levy due to sales tax revenue being up, and the mechanism for the 60 percent rollback is to level the property tax and sales tax. The commission opted for Malzner's recommendation Tuesday.

Malzner also had suggested the commission move the public works tax levy slightly, from 27.1 cents to 27.2 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. The commission again went with Malzner's recommendation.

For example, for a house appraised at $150,000, the property tax bill will decrease $2.99 for a year after the decrease in the general fund and increase in the public works fund, according to figures from the Cole County Collector's Office.

Malzner said the county is gaining in sales tax at this point, but not in general revenue tax, affecting the rollback in general revenue.

As of last week, Cole County's sales tax revenue is up by 1.4 percent year to date, Malzner said. As of the end of July, the county has collected 62 percent of the budgeted 2018 general revenue, county Auditor Kristen Berhorst said. As sales tax revenue continues to go up, property taxes will go down, offsetting each other.

Malzner also noted a lot of counties get into trouble because their tax bases were mostly on sales taxes, while Cole County is a balance between property and sales taxes. That means the county has to keep the two balanced and doesn't have to rely heavily on one form of tax.