Finance presents preliminary tax‑levy options; council holds public hearing as county valuations remain unsettled

The Independence City Council on Sept. 2 held a public hearing on proposed property tax rates for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025, and heard a presentation from Finance Director Melissa Cabrera on preliminary levy rates and limits. The hearing reviewed preliminary levy components based on July assessed values: a general revenue levy of 0.3281 per $100 of assessed value; a parks and recreation levy of 0.1546 per $100; a proposed debt‑service levy of 0.1829 per $100 to support general‑obligation bonds; and a separate Independence Square business district levy of 0.5679 per $100. Cabrera noted these are preliminary rates pending final assessed valuations from Jackson and Clay counties. Cabrera explained constitutional and statutory limits tied to the Hancock Amendment and the state tax commission (STC). She said the STC set the allowable growth (CPI) at 2.9% this year for rollback calculations and that a Jackson County court ruling required some rollbacks of assessments; final assessed valuations were not yet received from the counties at the time of the hearing. Cabrera provided revenue estimates tied to the preliminary levies: roughly $6,040,000 for the general fund, about $1,900,000 for parks and recreation, about $900,000 for the health property tax, and roughly $3,300,000 for debt service. She said the debt‑service levy accounts for planned principal and interest plus a reserve. She illustrated impacts on example homeowners and noted that the debt‑service levy accounted for the majority of the projected quarterly or annual increases in city taxes for typical home value examples. For one $100,000 market‑value home, she said the city portion of the tax bill would, under the preliminary rates, increase by about $33.52 and that most of that increase ($34.75 in her example) was attributable to the debt‑service levy. Council members asked whether county rollbacks could be clawed back and how they affect city revenues; Cabrera said clawbacks have occurred in the past, staff would monitor and use reserve balances to smooth timing impacts, and the city could pursue recovery in subsequent levy calculations. No final levy was set at the hearing; Cabrera and staff said final rates must await the BOE’s final assessed valuations and that the city will complete the pro forma calculation with the Missouri auditors’ office and notify counties before Oct. 1 to meet tax‑bill preparation deadlines. Next steps: staff will update the council with final assessed valuations and recommend final levy rates for council action after receiving county data; tax bills are mailed no later than Nov. 1 under state rules.