Cape county commission to consider property-tax increase

Cape Girardeau County taxpayers would pay a slightly higher property tax this year if the county commission approves the calculated rate.

Commissioners will hold a public hearing Monday before setting the tax rate. The proposed rate is 5.06 cents per $100 assessed valuation, which would be an increase from last year's 3.49-cent levy, county Auditor Pete Frazier said Thursday.

The levy is projected to raise nearly $653,000 in revenue this year, up from more than $438,000 in 2015, figures show. By comparison, sales tax is estimated to generate $7.33 million in revenue for the county government, a slight increase over a year ago.

The property tax levy fluctuates from year to year based on changes in assessed valuation and deviations in sales tax revenue, Frazier said.

"It is frustrating on our end," he said, explaining county officials have to use sales-tax estimates rather than actual figures annually in determining the size of the levy.

The county's sales-tax measure, approved by voters in 1979, requires the commission to reduce the property tax levy by 50 percent of the sales tax collected.

Frazier said sales-tax revenue is estimated by taking the amount received for the first six months and multiplying it by two. County officials take into account the difference between what actually was collected the previous year and what was estimated in calculating the tax rate, he said.

This year's levy calculations also take into account the county's assessed valuation has increased by more than $35 million from last year.

It stands at nearly $1.3 billion, Frazier said.

"There is a lot of construction going on," he said.

Frazier said he implemented the calculations as mandated by the state auditor's office when he first took office in January 2011. Before then, the tax rate was calculated differently.

Even with a slight increase in the tax levy, Frazier said the tax rate comprises a very small part of the tax bills of county residents. Most of the property taxes go to school districts, he said.

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