PROPERTY OWNERS GET 5 PERCENT LEVY DECREASE

The council recently set the Jackson City property tax rate at 99 cents per $100 assessed valuation. This rate is for residents whose property was in the city limits prior to 1965 who pay city Library tax. Residents who were annexed into the city after 1965 pay Riverside Library tax and their rate will be 87 cents per $100 assessed valuation. These rates represent a 5-cent across-the-board reduction from last year's rate. Earlier this year the state of Missouri imposed increases on some local residents' tax rates. The City Council felt with those state-imposed increases in place that we could reduce our rates in the City of Jackson and hopefully provide a little relief to our residents' total tax bill.

We are very pleased that the voters of Jackson chose to support the future infrastructure of Jackson by approving the recent water and sewer bond issue. This vote will enable us to ensure the residents of Jackson a quality water and sewer system for years to come. We felt the user-fee structure that was passed is the fairest type of increase. It keeps the fixed-income, minimal-usage customer in mind. The conservative nature of our present council makes bond issues and rate increases a last resort. On behalf of the council, I want to thank the voters of Jackson for their confidence and continued overwhelming support of Jackson. The council will soon be prioritizing the approved projects, and work will begin as soon as possible. It will take about six years to complete all the upgrades approved by the voters.

Improvements are under way at the Route D and Highway 61 intersection. After the road has been re-aligned, lighted signals will be installed to make the traffic flow better and improve the safety of this intersection. This work should be completed in the next few weeks.

School has started and soon we will hear the band playing and see footballs flying in the air. As our town grows our school grows. This is the time for us all to take extra care watching for children while driving in and around Jackson.

As most of you have probably read by now, the results are in on the multipurpose-community building feasibility survey. The committee has decided to move forward taking small steps at a time toward the next phase of determining if it is feasible to recommend such a structure. It will take quite some time for the committee to finish its work.

The council meets every Monday night at City Hall at 7:30. These sessions are always open to the public. I encourage you all to let your alderman or me know if you have a concern, a question, or a suggestion on how we can make Jackson an even better place to live and work.