Clayton holds hearings, files first readings on 2025 property tax levies and 2026 budget amid tornado recovery

The Board of Aldermen opened public hearings Sept. 9 and approved first readings of ordinances to set the city's 2025 property tax levies and the fiscal year 2026 operating and capital budgets. City officials told the board the city saw significant reassessment-driven value growth this year but is constrained from fully realizing that growth by Missouri's Hancock Amendment and the voter-approved rollback limits. City Manager David Gibson said residential assessed values rose by about $12.3 million and commercial assessed values by about $28.1 million for calendar-year 2025. Because revenue increases are limited to the lower of 5 percent or the annual Consumer Price Index, this year capped collections tied to rate changes at 2.9 percent. The city's finance summary shows roughly $297,000 in new-construction revenue available to the general fund and about $198,000 attributable to reassessment under the rollback cap. The combined residential levy in…