The Excelsior Springs City Council unanimously approved Ordinance No. 25-09-09 on Sept. 26 to levy general and special property taxes for tax year 2025 following an advertised public hearing.

City staff reported the assessed valuation for 2025 at $239,565,814, which they said represents roughly an 11% increase from 2024. Staff explained that, under the state-mandated rollback formula, when assessed value rises faster than the cost of living the tax rate must be adjusted to avoid an unexpected revenue windfall. Staff told the council the rollback calculation reduced the rate from the 2024 figure (stated in the record as "a dollar and 5.67¢") to roughly $1.05 per $100 of assessed value for 2025 and attributed approximately $69,000 in increased revenue to reassessments and additional revenue to new construction (figures presented by staff in the hearing record).

During the public hearing — which staff noted had been opened at 8:30 a.m. as advertised and then formally opened at 9:07 a.m. — no members of the public raised comments beyond those in the room. The council moved to close the hearing and then proceeded to take the ordinance to second reading and to adopt it. The roll-call votes recorded Councilman McGovern, Councilman Speer, Councilman Rennie, Mayor Pro Tem Saint John and Mayor Spahn voting "yes" on the ordinances and related motions; the mayor announced Ordinance No. 25-09-09 approved.

Staff clarified that senior-citizen tax discounts are applied by the county at payment and were not included in the rate-setting calculation. The council’s action was framed as an annual, statutory step to set the tax rate for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, 2025.

The ordinance approval was the principal formal action of the special meeting; the council then moved to other agenda items and later closed the meeting into a closed session under the statutory citations read aloud in the record.