Callaway County Commission sets tax levy

<p>For the News Tribune</p><p>The Callaway County Commission met Friday for a tax hearing.</p>

For the News Tribune

The Callaway County Commission met Friday for a tax hearing.

The Callaway County Commission approved the 2020 county tax levy Friday.

The commissioners voted unanimously to set the general revenue levy at $0.3328 per $100 of assessed value and the road and bridge levy at $0.2576 per $100 of assessed value.

Last year, the general revenue levy was $0.3290 per $100 of assessed value and the road and bridge levy was $0.2547 per $100 of assessed value.

"These are the figures that the state came up with," Eastern District Commissioner Randall Kleindienst said.

The county must adjust the tax levy annually based on guidance from the Missouri State Auditor's Office.

The auditor's office makes its recommendation based on real estate and personal property values determined by the county assessor.

"With all that being said, our additional revenue is zero," Presiding Commissioner Gary Jungermann said.

In 2020, the county's total assessed valuation was at $915,096,140, up from 2019's $902,798,841.

The jump partially reflects more than $20 million in new construction, as well as reassessments of older properties.

"In theory, it looks like it should be (higher) and it's not, and the reason it's not is because somewhere along the line assessed values went down on some older property," Jungermann said.

In Callaway County, the general revenue levy cannot be more than $0.46 per $100 of assessed value, based on a decades-old decision by county voters.

"But we have never been there, and I don't want to say we'll never get there, but it'd be (unlikely)," Jungermann said.