MISSOURI COUNTIES' ASSESSMENTS REACH RECORD $47.5 BILLION

JEFFERSON CITY -- Newly compiled assessed-valuation totals for Missouri's 114 counties and the city of St. Louis have reached a record-breaking $47.5 billion.

The assessed valuations compute to $8,967.80 for each of the estimated 5.3 million Missourians living in the state. As recently as 1990, Missouri's per-capita assessed valuation was $7,784.31.

The higher totals reached in just six years represent an effort by the Missouri Tax Commission to equalize per-capita and total assessments throughout the state. Several counties recently have been ordered to increase their totals or face regulatory action by the commission.

A computer study of per-capita assessments in major counties shows a noticeable disparity between urban and rural counties. The state's highest per-capita assessments aren't in the metropolitan areas of St. Louis or Kansas City; the highest is in Taney County in Southwest Missouri. It contains Branson, one of the nation's most popular vacation areas. The per-capita total for Taney County is $20,634.79 -- $11,600 more than the statewide average.

Prior to the latest reassessment, Camden County, in the heart of the Lake of the Ozarks area, had the state's highest per-individual assessment: $16,895. It now is $20,099.04.

Cotton-rich New Madrid County has a per-capita tax base of $15,416, in contrast to some of its Bootheel neighbors that have averages as low as Pemiscot County's $5,411.52.

The state's highest, urban per-capita assessment is in St. Louis County: $13,208.66. The per-capita total average in Jackson County, with Missouri's largest city, Kansas City, is $8,737.50.

In St. Louis the per-capita rate is a much lower $7,021.24. This despite the fact that much of that area's major office buildings and industrial plants are within the corporate limits of St. Louis city.

Tax officials said many of the corporate office buildings in downtown St. Louis have been granted tax abatements to encourage investment and growth in the decaying urban area. In addition, a sizable portion of real estate in the city is owned by the Catholic Church and its educational facilities, including St. Louis University. Another institution that enjoys real-estate tax freedom is Washington University, a private school that was granted tax-free status when it got a state charter in 1853.

Missouri's smallest county in both population (2,400) and area (266 square miles) is Worth county in Northwest Missouri. It has a per-capita tax assessment of $7,452.14. The state's largest county in square miles (1,180) is Texas County, where the per-capita total dips to $5,232.97.

Per-capita assessments for Missouri's third largest city, Springfield, are included in statistics for Greene County, where the total is $9,042.38. Boone County, home of Columbia, has a per-capita assessment of $8,418.93. Neighboring Cole County, which contains Jefferson City and most state office buildings, has a per-capita assessment of $9,042.38. None of the state's fully owned facilities in Cole County is listed on tax rolls, although buildings that have been constructed by private developers for lease-purchase by the state are included. Once the state pays the full leasing amount, however, the property is removed from tax rolls and isn't counted in the total assessed valuation for the county.

Random averages around the state vary form $8,829.45 in Cape Girardeau County to $8,323.88 in Atchison County; $5,956.30 in Dunklin County and $5,719.13 in Ozark County.

One of the most dramatic results of the latest assessed-valuation adjustment is the increasing value percentage in urban areas. For example, the five-jurisdiction St. Louis area, with 35 percent of the state's population, has 43 percent of Missouri's total assessed valuation. The area includes St. Louis city and county and St. Charles, Jefferson and Franklin counties. The area has a population of 1,855,032, with an assigned assessment total of $20.4 billion.

The four-county Kansas City region, with 17 percent of the population, has 18 percent of the state's total assessed valuations. The population of the four-county Greater Kansas City area is 908,318, while its assessed valuation total is $8.5 billion. Combining those two metropolitan areas, with 52 percent of the state's population, 61 percent of Missouri's total assessed valuation can be found.