Hannibal School Board considering 13 percent tax hike

HANNIBAL, Mo. — At Tuesday’s meeting, Hannibal School District Board of Education members and their patrons alike expressed concerns about a potential operating tax levy increase.

“I don’t know how comfortable the public is with hearing they’re going to get a 13 percent increase in taxes,” board member Ron Greenwell said. “When I see a 13 percent increase, red flags are going up.”

On August 20, board members will vote on the proposed tax rate increase from $3.04 to $3.49 per $100. This increase has caused some confusion because of the $30 million bond issue that passed in April. This bond issue guaranteed the debt service levy — which currently sits at $1.12 per $100 of assessed property value — would not go up.

“I’m not a tax expert, but when we were told no tax increase, I thought that meant no tax increase, not just on the bond issue,” Greenwell said. “I’ve received phone calls from people who feel it’s the old bait and switch where the public was told one thing, and now all of a sudden we’re putting a tax on them and saying, ‘oh no, it wasn’t about the bond, it was a different tax.’”

District Superintendent Susan Johnson responded to Greenwell by harking back to the extensive conversations the board had to make sure the language in the bond issue was clear.

“I understand that is very confusing, and that is the reason why as a board we talked about that at great length many times,” Johnson said. “I knew that could be confusing.”

If the tax rate increase does not pass, the district could be forced to make cuts.

“The question is what cuts do you make that are going to hurt people, especially our children, the least. That’s a difficult thing to determine. That’s not a fun endeavor,” Johnson said. “We’ve already made a lot of significant cuts. We cut almost $2.5 million from our budget from last year. Those things aren’t easy.”

Tuesday’s meeting was an important step in deciding what is best for the district.

“If we have to do it, we’ll do it, but I just wanted to give them all the tools they needed so they could make an informed decision,” Johnson said.

Board member J’Nelle Lee said if the district does not raise taxes, it could have a difficult time retaining teachers and best serving its students.

“If we don’t increase the taxes, our teachers, our students, and our support staff are going to be the ones that feel it the most,” Lee said. “We’re not going to get teachers, we’re not going to keep teachers. We might not have enough teachers for our students, we might not be able to offer programs for our students.”

Tax rates are figured annually and are set to produce the amount of revenue that’s needed from property tax to be able to manage the budget. The board sets a preliminary budget in July and has to set a tax rate by Sept. 1. Tax rate is determined by dividing the amount of revenue that a district needs by the current assessed valuation.

During the public comments portion of the meeting, Laura Meyer reminded those in attendance of an important distinction in how the tax levy is determined. It is based on the assessed value of a home, not the appraised value.

“That is a very important thing that everyone needs to know,” Meyer said. “It doesn’t matter how much you paid for your house, it’s how much the assessor says they’re going to tax based on it.”

Missouri’s Hancock Amendment prevents entities from raising taxes an exuberant amount without taxpayers having a say. In Hannibal, the maximum operating tax levy is $3.75, which means the proposed $3.49 per $100 rate still falls more than a quarter below that threshold. Hannibal High School math teacher Daniel Miller explain this during his comments.

“If the taxpayers have approved that we can tax up to this amount to provide a quality education to the students within our district, I don’t think we’re misrepresenting the taxpayers, the voters or anyone to tax up to what they have already voted to allow us to use,” Miller said.

The tax increase’s necessity aside, a 13 percent jump would have a significant impact on families already struggling to make ends meet.

“You think that $50 or $100 a year isn’t much to some people, but it’s everything to some people. They just cannot afford it,” Marion County Collector of Revenue Donna Goodin said. “I hope you take that into consideration. This is a big increase for them on top of everything else that‘s been going up, and I sure hope you don’t do it.”

Attorney James Lemon said increasing taxes after the bond issue passed four months prior could lead to a disconnect between the district and the communities it serves.

“We have a wonderful relationship between our school district and the taxpayers,” Lemon said. “If you lose that trust, you’re going to lose the ability to get bond issues passed, and I’m very concerned that you are going to lose that trust if you raise taxes and the public is not confident that’s what’s happening.”

Mark Bross, who was on the school board for 13 years, encouraged the board to consider the long-term impact of their decision.

“This is a two-year decision. You can’t catch up next year,” Bross said. “If state funding is withheld or assessed valuation goes down next year, you will have a huge hole in your budget.”

Grace Covenant Baptist Church Pastor Chuck Todd, the final member of the public to address the board, concluded his comments with this message:

“Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. I think it’s time to tighten up the belt and look at all other means before you raise taxes.”