Letter to the Editor: Any tax increase approved by Hannibal School Board is broken promise

I am writing to inform the citizens of Hannibal about the upcoming vote the Board of Education will be taking to increase the operating levy tax — or keep it as it is now. 

Voters were promised that the $30 million bond issue just approved would result in no tax increase with the debt levy tax (used to pay the bonds off through the $1.12 per $100 of assessed property value).

Instead, the current administration is asking the Board of Education to raise the operating levy tax (which provides funds for the operating budget) by .3515. It now is at .3055.

We are being told that because we have two separate issues (bond/debt versus operating tax) and because we have two separate taxes, an increase in the general tax levy is acceptable. It is true the current administration is not proposing to raise the debt service levy (because the bond passed), but any tax increase is a broken promise. The bond contract obligates the general funds to the bond debt, and the two buckets can mingle. 

A public meeting has been called for 5:30 p.m. July 30. If you are interested in learning about this tax increase, I urge you to come to the Early Childhood Center that night.

Anna Lemon
Hannibal, Missouri 

EDITOR’S NOTE: The time of the Hannibal School Board meeting on July 30 was incorrect in an earlier version of this story.