The Callaway County Commission unanimously decided to lower 2019 tax levies Tuesday.
The recommendation to lower the levies came from county Assessor Jody Pashcal following rising property values throughout Callaway County.
The 2019 general revenue levy will be set at $0.3290 per $100 of assessed value and road and bridge levy will be set at $0.2547 per $100 of assessed value.
"The levy needs to be reduced. I think a lot of the other levies have followed that trend," Presiding Commissioner Gary Jungermann said.
Both the 2019 general revenue and road and bridge levies will see approximately 2 percent decreases from their 2018 rates. These tax levies have been slightly decreasing since 2016.
"(These decreases) come around because you can't get more money off of old existing assessments; in other words, you can't have a windfall type of situation," Eastern District Commissioner Randy Kleindienst said. "With both levies going down, it should end up being a little less (for the taxpayers); that's usually good news."
Callaway County has a total valuation of $902,798,841 in 2019, Jungermann said. He explained this number is up by approximately $37 million from 2018 due to new money from cell towers and new construction within the county.
Adjusting the property tax levy is a routine part of the county's administrative role and happens annually.