County senior-property tax relief applications could cost district about $1.4 million in revenue, official says

Liberty Public Schools finance director Cindy Sullivan told the board the county provided preliminary data on a new senior property tax relief program that could reduce district operating revenue. Sullivan said the county received 17,352 applications total; 4,189 of those applications were for parcels inside Liberty Public Schools.

Sullivan described an assessed-value increase across those Liberty parcels of about $30,000,000 (the transcript phrased this as "almost $30,000,000") and said applying the district's current operating and capital levy to that assessed-value increase would produce a revenue loss of "a little over $1,400,000" at 2024 tax rates. She stressed the numbers are preliminary, the tax rate-setting process is not complete and the county continues to work through application-processing details.

Sullivan and trustees discussed timing and budget implications. She told the board the revenue impact would affect the district's receipts beginning with the next tax cycle (revenue received January 2026, per the administration). Board members and staff noted the effect compounds as eligible parcels carry the frozen valuation forward year to year unless the ordinance or administrative treatment changes.

Sullivan said the county and assessor were still working through implementation details, including how a parcel's value is treated if the property later sells or exits the program; she and the assessor agreed that current ordinance language does not fully spell out the handling of roll-off and reconsolidation.

Ending: The board directed staff to monitor the county's final numbers and planned to address the tax levy formally at the September tax-rate hearing; district staff recommended a brief study-session briefing on the mechanics and the local impact before the levy vote.