COUNTY TO UNDERGO REASSESSMENT

A major reassessment of real estate values could mean larger tax bills for some Cape Girardeau County homeowners.

Residential and commercial property values will increase by approximately 25 percent on average, said Cape Girardeau County Assessor Jerry Reynolds.

However, that does not mean an across-the-board jump in property tax revenues. Some homeowners could even see their bills go down.

The tax index under the appraisal system used by the county is currently 1.39. It will be increased to 1.90.

The index is a method to adjust appraisals to meet today's values. An index of 1.0 is what property was worth in 1985.

The Missouri Tax Commission, which ordered 105 counties to do major reassessments this year, initially wanted the county to make its index even higher to bring assessed values closer in line with market values.

"The Tax Commission came up with an index and said Cape County should be at 2.05, but we thought that was too high," Reynolds said.

Robert Norris, a spokesman for the Tax Commission, said the commission based its index on a sample appraisal of 40 properties. However, it gave counties leeway to set new indexes they felt were more appropriate.

Cape Girardeau County has not conducted a major reassessment since 1985. Property statewide was reassessed that year to create greater equity among property owners.

Prior to that change, properties were assessed at different rates based on a number of factors. Under the old system, two parcels with identical market values might have had significantly different tax values.

"Houses are assessed equally now, but they are all equally wrong," Reynolds said.

Assessed property values in the county have not kept up with market values. After the reassessment, the two will be much closer, Reynolds said.

The total value of all residential, agricultural and commercial property in the city of Cape Girardeau will increase $25.1 million. The bulk of that -- $24.7 million -- is for residential property alone.

In the city of Jackson, the value of residential property will increase $11.44 million. However, agricultural and commercial property values have dropped $21,790, for a total property value increase of $11.42 million.

The final figures for all of Cape Girardeau County are not yet available. In 1996, the county had a total assessed valuation of more than $572 million.

Although each county is required by law to do a total reassessment every two years, not all counties do so. Reynolds said doing a total reassessment every two years would be a major drain on his office's resources.

The primary reason values are jumping so much is the tremendous growth in the real estate market in recent years, said Norris. "We could see back in '93 and '94 that property values were taking off," Norris said.

During the last reassessment year, 1995, Norris said many county assessors felt the growth in the real estate market would be a short term phenomenon and only minor adjustments were made. However, that extensive growth continued.

"It was clear that virtually every county needed to conduct a major assessment," Norris said.

Reynolds agreed that real estate values "have gone sky high and have never been adjusted enough."

However, since assessed values will jump drastically this year, taxpayers will benefit from a tax rollback.

Safeguards built into state law prevent taxing entities from profiting from reassessment. Such entities -- among them cities, school districts and fire protection districts -- must roll back rates so revenues will equal what they were the year prior to reassessment, plus tax growth from new construction and an adjustment for inflation, usually around 3 percent.

"If we had gradually crept it up, we would not have the benefit of a rollback," Reynolds said.

Because of the rollbacks -- which will be individually determined by each taxing entity -- some people will see their tax bills go down.

Reynolds' preliminary estimates show about a 12 percent overall tax increase after rollbacks.

In the city of Cape Girardeau, most of the growth in values will be in the newer subdivisions on the north side of town. Values will remain the same or decrease south of Independence Street.

The reassessment basically means the tax burden has shifted more to the shoulders of residential property owners.

Commercial property will increase some in value while agricultural property will remain the same, Reynolds said.

The assessed value of farmland is uniform throughout Missouri and fixed under state law. Therefore, the actual worth of a plot of farmland near a rapidly developing area such as the far west side of Cape Girardeau is much higher than its tax value.

There are more than 29,000 pieces of commercial, residential and agricultural property in Cape Girardeau County.

Values for residential property are set on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood basis. Each home is visually examined from the outside so if it appears to be of greater or less value than surrounding homes, it is adjusted accordingly.

Notices informing residents of the 1996 and 1997 assessed values of their property will be mailed in April. Residents who disagree with the stated value of their property should contact Reynolds' office.