Cape council looks to keep property tax rates at current level

The Cape Girardeau City Council plans to keep property tax rates at their current level for the fiscal year that began July 1 and runs through June 30, 2020.

Council members are set to hold a public hearing today on the levying of the city’s general fund, public health and downtown business district taxes, and then approve an ordinance setting the tax rates.

City finance director Victor Brownlees wrote in a report to the council “a homeowner that owns a house worth $200,000 would only pay $137.07 in real estate tax to the city, which is no change from the previous year.”

City residents would pay $12.02 for each $10,000 of personal property they own, according to Brownlees.

The proposed tax levies per $100 assessed valuation include $0.3037 for the general fund, $0.0569 for the health fund and $0.7076 for the downtown special business district, Brownlees wrote.

Cape Girardeau’s recently approved budget for fiscal 2020 takes into account the proposed levies.

The tax rates, as spelled out in state law, are tied to the assessed values of real estate and personal property.

Brownlees wrote initial assessed values of real property increased more than $15.6 million or 2.9% while the initial assessed values of personal property increased more than $6 million over last year’s assessed values.

The assessed values of new construction and improvements totaled more than $14.3 million, “indicating an overall increase in the base valuations of real property,” according to Brownlees.

The general fund levy helps pay for basic city services. The health fund pays costs for enforcement of the city’s health and animal-control laws. The business district tax funds some improvements to Cape Girardeau’s downtown.

Eight percent of general fund revenue comes from property taxes, the city budget shows.

Brownlees wrote general fund real estate and personal property taxes are projected to generate more than $1.98 million, up 1.63% from the fiscal 2019 budget.

The health-fund levy is projected to generate more than $354,000 this fiscal year. The special business district real estate tax generates more than $34,000, according to the city budget.

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