County land value up nearly 8 percent

The value of land in Cape Girardeau County increased by $47 million, or 7.76 percent from last year, while personal property value increased by $13 million, or 7 percent, according to the county assessor's office.

The numbers, released by the county Wednesday, are subject to change as property and real estate owners are allowed to appeal assessments to the board of equalization. Property owners should be getting notices of change in the mail next week.

More precise figures, notably the breakdown on new construction versus increased value, have not yet been figured, meaning school officials were uncertain yet how the figures might affect the districts' bottom line. School districts, libraries and fire districts are all funded through property and real estate taxes.

However, a $27 million -- or 8.2 percent - jump was enough to at least leave chief financial officer Rob Huff of the Cape Girardeau School District with a bit of optimism.

He said the new construction and railroad/utility assessment figures are needed before he could say what impact the reassessments might have. Those figures usually become available in August.

"It does look optimistic," he said. "This is more along what we saw prior to the downturn in the economy."

Huff said he's particularly pleased with the increased value of personal property. The valuations in property tax for the district increased from $90.5 million to $96.3 million, a 6.4 percent increase. The district had no increase last year.

As for Jackson's school district, officials were neither optimistic nor dejected.

Superintendent Dr. Ron Anderson and assistant superintendent of finance Jim Welker both said the 7.5 percent increase in real estate assessment was in the range of where they thought it would be. Without more precise information, neither could guess as to what it would mean for the district.

One of the more notable aspects of the reassessment was the increase in real estate value in Gordonville -- a 12 percent jump. It was the highest increase in the county.

Outside of Cape Girardeau and Jackson, Gordonville has more real estate value than any other incorporated area in the county.

Jeff Martin, a broker/manager for Realty Executives of Cape Girardeau County, said he wasn't suprised that the Gordonville area saw an increase. However, he said the numbers could be skewed somewhat because Gordonville is a small area and just a few properties could inflate the numbers.

"It is a desirable area for people who want to be outside of the city," Martin said. "There are some new subdivisions going on just outside of Jackson, so the area is growing."

One category that saw a decline in value, county enterprise zones, doesn't surprise Assessor Jerry Reynolds. Businesses in the zones are allowed tax advantages for operating in the county. But since the financial privilige is limited to a certain amount of time, those businesses eventually move into their standard taxing jurisdiction. So the decline is natural, Reynolds said.

bmiller@semissourian.com

243-6635

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Cape Girardeau County real estate assessed valuations (In millions of dollars)

Jurisdiction/type May 2004 assessed value May 2005 assessed value percent increase

Agriculture 20,158,140 20,382,720 1.1

Commercial 190,935,310 206,969,100 8.4

Forest cropland 230 0 --

Residential 394,715,390 425,518,960 7.8

TOTAL VALUE 605,809,070 652,870,780 7.8

Rural 164,742,210 177,204,550 7.6

Incorporated 441,066,860 45,666,230 7.9

Out county 164,742,210 177,204,550 7.6

Whitewater 366,670 375,660 2.5

Delta 1,458,560 1,550,490 6.3

Gordonville 2,594,430 2,900,570 11.8

Oak Ridge 718,090 736,210 2.6

Old Appleton 321,860 336,740 4.8

Pocahontas 351,860 383,370 9.0

Allenville 172,160 177,370 3.1

Scott City 299,490 0 --

Cape school district 338,607,140 366,199,040 8.2

Jackson school dist. 215,397,560 231,494,910 7.5

Advance school dist. 1,109,370 1,143,810 21.5

Nell Holcomb sch. dist. 26,119,740 28,219,160 7.0

Delta school dist. 12,738,210 13,230,540 7.4

Oak Ridge school dist. 11,809,060 12,554,680 10.6

Meadow Hghts dist. 27,990 28,640 31.6

Cape Gir. reg. library 289,080,940 312,440,610 8.1

Jackson city library 51,106,980 53,368,800 4.5

Regional library 265,621,150 287,061,370 8.1

Road/Bridge 29 232,339,940 247,980,910 6.8

Road/Bridge 31 373,469,130 404,889,870 8.5

North County fire 12,091,340 12,939,270 7.1

Fruitland fire 42,783,710 46,099,460 7.8

Millersville fire 18,862,880 20,246,070 7.4

East County fire 42,300,190 45,390,300 7.3

Gordonville fire 303,054,40 33,238,230 9.7

Whitewater fire 7,083,290 7,482,480 5.7

Delta fire 7,095,720 7,447,460 5.0

Business district 2,531,230 2,603,070 2.9

Enterprize zone 14,463,160 12,144,700 (19.1)

Cape Girardeau County personal property assessed valuations (In millions of dollars)

Jurisdiction/type May 2004 assessed value May 2005 assessed value percent increase

Out county 64010,183 69,140,369 8.1

Whitewater 123,550 145,080 17.5

Delta 607,320 675,150 11.2

Gordonville 1049,660 1,160,990 10.6

Oak ridge 363,130 489,820 34.9

Old Appleton 269,040 377,730 40.4

Pocahontas 153,140 140,690 (8.1)

Allenville 109,220 106,970 (2)

Dutchtown 86,900 93,790 8.0

Regional library 90,193,673 97,232,929 7.8

Cape city library 75,315,785 79,865,520 6.1

Jackson library 13,286,965 14,223,180 7.1

Road/bridge 29 77,608,108 83,445,440 7.6

Road/bridge 31 101,188,315 107,876,189 6.6

Cape school dist. 90,467,755 96,363,060 6.6

Jackson school dist. 67,067,979 72,000,331 7.4

Advance school dist. 270,480 328,590 21.5

Nell Holcomb schl. dist. 12,875,835 13,771,812 7.0

Delta school dist. 3,459,325 3,714,596 7.4

Oak Ridge school dist. 4,648,829 5,141,280 10.6

Meadow Hts. sch. dist. 6,220 1,960 (316)

North County fire 4,831,879 5,253,050 8.8

Fruitland fire 15,494,734 17,296,940 11.7

Millersville fire 7,294,659 7,743,575 6.2

East County fire 16,892,855 17,867,702 5.8

Gordonville fire 9,659,311 10,493,366 8.7

Whitewater fire 2,191,035 2,369,132 8.2

Delta fire 2,050,230 2,238,405 9.2

TOTAL VALUE 178,796,423 191,321,629 7.0

Source: Cape Girardeau County assessor's office