Pattonville school board approves tax rates for 2024-2025 school year

The Pattonville Board of Education on Sept. 24 voted to approve the district tax rate for the 2024-2025 school year. School boards in St. Louis County set tax rates each year for four classes of property within school district boundaries: residential, commercial, personal and agricultural. The rates for all four property classes, as approved by the board, are: residential: $3.8259; agricultural: $5.3783; commercial: $4.7848; and personal property: $5.3783.

As the assessed value of each class of property changes, the district is limited to the lesser of three factors by Missouri law to determine the amount of revenue it can receive. Those factors and their rates in Pattonville for 2024 are: 

• Change in total assessed valuation; for Pattonville, this decreased by 0.32%;
• The increase in Consumer Price Index (CPI); at 3.4%; or 
• No more than 5% if the other rates are higher.

Because the district saw an overall decrease in assessed valuation, tax revenue compared to last year will remain flat, with the exception of new construction. The decrease in assessed value is primarily due to protested appeals to commercial property. Budget projections for this year anticipated a 1.5% increase in tax revenue, but due to the decrease in assessed value, the operating budget will decrease by $1.6 million. Budget revisions will be presented to the board later this school year. 

The district’s change in assessed valuation is determined by the change in residential, commercial and personal property values. This year, the assessed value of residential property increased by 0.06%, commercial decreased by 2.15% and personal property increased 3.35%. The overall assessed valuation for all property in the district, excluding new construction, decreased 0.32%. 

Approximately 85% of Pattonville’s revenue comes from local sources, which include taxes paid on property in the district. These taxes are based on the assessed value of the property, as determined by the St. Louis County assessor’s office. Pattonville will continue to monitor district revenues and expenditures to ensure the district remains fiscally responsible.

Also important to note is that Pattonville’s residential rate will be lower than the rates for agricultural, commercial and personal property, as promised to voters when they approved the Proposition P tax rate increase in 2013. At the time of the election, the district promised to limit the residential tax rate increase for as many years as possible. Prop P allowed the district to levy up to 99 cents, but the district kept its commitment during the past 11 years to maintain a lower residential tax rate. Because the residential assessed valuation increased, the Hancock Amendments requires the residential rate to be rolled back so that the district only receives the allowable amount of tax revenue. As a result, the district’s residential rate is $0.0331 lower for the 2024-2025 school year. 

Pattonville is also one of three districts in St. Louis County that has not waived all of Proposition C. Prop C is a one-cent Missouri sales tax dedicated to education approved by voters in 1982. Under its provisions, half of the money received by a local district is used to roll back local property taxes. Because of Prop C, Pattonville rolled back all tax rates by $0.2189, totaling $2.1 million.

Additionally, Pattonville continues to take a voluntary rollback to its debt service tax rate in order to lessen the tax burden on homeowners. The district’s debt service tax rate, which is part of the district’s overall tax levy, remains unchanged at 49 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, as promised to voters when they approved zero tax-rate-change bond issues in 2022, 2017, 2010 and 2006. Under the state’s formula for calculating tax rates and the district’s taxing capacity, the district could have levied $0.2850 cents more in its debt service tax rate. The total tax rate, including debt service, approved for residential properties is $4.3298 per $100 of assessed valuation. The overall impact of voluntary rollbacks on a $200,000 home in the district equates to a 11.6% reduction in homeowner tax bills (see chart below).

Pattonville is also continuing to monitor the potential impact of the senior property tax freeze, which allows counties in Missouri to provide a tax credit to seniors. St. Louis County will begin accepting applications for the tax freeze on Oct. 1 for the 2025 tax year. Qualifying seniors would be exempt from property tax increases and their taxes would be frozen at the base amount set the year they qualify. The county collector will calculate the base tax and the amount that would have been charged without the freeze and not bill for that amount. The Hancock Amendment allows taxing districts to adjust their tax rate for lost revenue. However, since the senior tax freeze is an after-the-calculation tax credit, there is no provision in its approved law to account for the recovery of lost revenue. As such, it is impossible to forecast the potential decrease in revenue, particularly the first year when the amount of eligible residents is unpredictable. Additionally, reduced revenues and the freezing of a portion of assessed values could be viewed negatively by credit rating agencies due to creating uncertainty and perceived instability in the community. This could negatively impact the district’s credit rating, which would increase the district’s overall cost of borrowing.