Property tax rates to increase in Jackson School District

The Jackson School District Board of Education voted 6-1 to increase property tax rates for 2023 at a special meeting Tuesday, Aug. 29.

Matt Lacy, the district's chief financial officer, reported the rate will increase from $3.7998 to $3.8032 per $100 in property values as determined by the Cape Girardeau County Assessor's Office.

Lacy said the increase will garner the district an estimated $22,000 in revenue for the 2023-24 school year.

Lacy explained the need for the increase came down to new revenue derived from reassessment of property values was "not even close" to keeping pace with inflation. He said the county's assessed valuation showed an average growth in existing property from 2022 to 2023 at just under 2%, while inflation is over 6%.

Lacy said that, within the Jackson School District, valuation of personal property is down by about $9 million and commercial property is down approximately $5 million.

He said one reason for the drop in revenue from commercial property taxes is because one of the biggest commercial property owners in the district, Capital Sand, appealed the county's assessed valuation. Lacy said the county complied and rolled back Capital Sand's assessed valuation by 50%, which will lead to an estimated revenue reduction for the district of more than $400,000.

"Some might be saying, 'Hey, my property tax went up 8.5%, (the district) should be swimming in money," Lacy said. "But really, we're only showing about 2% growth because of these factors; reduction in commercial property, and then a decrease in personal property taxes."

Board member Kristen Lewis gave the only dissenting vote. She said voters had expressed a wish for no increase in taxes and for the "trivial amount" of about $22,000, "I don't think it shows that we are hearing them."

"I would rather the voters increase their taxes than the school board," Lewis said.

Scott Smith, district superintendent, said he looked at the $22,000 in terms of staff members saying, "for us, that's a custodian," or other similar position.