Pattonville school board approves tax rates for 2025-2026 school year

The Pattonville Board of Education on Sept. 30 voted to approve the district tax rate for the 2025-2026 school year. School boards in St. Louis County set tax rates each year for four classes of property within school district boundaries. The four property classes and their rates, as approved by the board, are: residential: $3.5579; agricultural: $4.9339; commercial: $4.6207; and personal property: $5.3896.

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 2025 are: 

• Change in total assessed valuation; for Pattonville, this increased by 8.6962%;
• The increase in Consumer Price Index (CPI); at 2.9%; or 
• No more than 5% if the other rates are higher.

CPI serves as an indicator for inflation and is used by the government, businesses and individuals to understand and adjust for the rising cost of living. When setting the budget in June, Pattonville predicted CPI would be the determining factor for the increase in revenue. 

In its budget proposal approved in June, the district projected overall assessed valuations to be at 15.45%. Due to assessed valuations coming in lower, at 8.70%, there is a $631,760 reduction in debt service revenue. Budget revisions will be presented to the board later this school year. 

All rates except personal property saw an increase in assessed valuation. Increases were 15% for residential, 13% for agricultural and 8% for commercial. Personal property saw a 1% decrease. The change in assessed valuation is due to a 3.3% increase in new construction and 712% increase in appeals and reassessment from taxpayers. Personal property saw a decrease of 133%.

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 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 last 12 years to maintain a lower residential tax rate. Because the residential assessed valuation increased, the Hancock Amendment 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 $0.3816 lower for the 2025-2026 school year. 

Pattonville is also one of three districts in St. Louis County that has not waived all of Proposition C, 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 $0.2077, 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 $0.1739 more in its debt service tax rate. The total tax rate, including debt service, approved for residential properties is $3.9395 per $100 of assessed valuation. The overall impact of voluntary rollbacks on a $250,000 home in the district equates to a 9.7% 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 began accepting applications for the tax freeze in 2024. Qualifying seniors are 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. The homeowner will see the full assessed value on their bill and then receive a credit for the difference of the freeze 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 the approved law to account for the recovery of lost revenue. As such, at this time, it is impossible to forecast the potential decrease in revenue due to variables including the number of people who qualify and the amount they qualify at. 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.

Keeping our Promises

Pattonville committed to keeping its debt service levy at 49 cents when voters approved zero tax-rate-change bond issues in 2022, 2017, 2010 and 2006, and the district has kept this promise despite being legally able to adjust the rate due to changes in property values. The chart below shows this year’s voluntary debt service rollback, along with other tax rate reductions the board of education approved this year in order to reduce the tax burden on homeowners. 

* 9.7% voluntary reduction in residential taxes