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Council adopts 2025 property tax levy; finance director says assessed valuation rose 5.3%
Summary
City finance staff reported a 5.3% assessed-valuation increase for 2025 and used Hancock Amendment limits to calculate levy rates; council adopted the 2025 tax levy ordinance (Bill 25-172) with an emergency clause by a 9-0 vote.
The City Council adopted its 2025 property tax levy ordinance after a public hearing in which Finance Director Brianna Bericher reviewed the assessment process, valuation trends and statutory limits that shaped the city’s levy calculations.
Bericher said the city received final assessed valuations from Jackson County on Sept. 2 and that total assessed valuation rose 5.3% from 2024 to nearly $3.5 billion. She explained the Hancock Amendment’s levy-limit mechanics and told council the permitted revenue growth adjustment for 2025 was 2.1889% (the lower of CPI or 5%). “The levy calculation permitted reassessment revenue growth in percentage is adjusted for either CPI or 5%, which is the lowest, whichever of those is the lowest. And for 2025, our levy limitation for revenue growth was 2.1889%,” she said.
Bericher presented the city’s calculated levy rates by fund: a general-fund levy of 0.7971; a parks-and-recreation levy of 0.1208; and a debt-service levy of 0.3697. She noted the parks and debt levies were being reduced below the legal maximum as part of the city's revenue plan.
Councilmember Ryan Funk read Bill 25-172 for second reading and later moved for adoption of the ordinance setting the 2025 levy with an emergency clause. The motion carried 9-0.
Bericher also reviewed an example bill calculation based on the current median market value and said, with the levy held steady, an average market-value home could see an annual increase in the city portion of about $103, depending on market value changes for individual properties. She emphasized that total tax bills depend on county, school and other jurisdictions as well.
Staff entered the levy exhibits into the public record and closed the hearing. Council voted to adopt the levy ordinance in the same meeting to meet statutory deadlines for levy filings, as required by state law.
