Yesterday, school districts across the state asked their residents to increase property taxes to provide more funding for their schools. Several weeks ago, we provided information sheets on these votes to help citizens make informed choices as to whether or not they thought their districts needed more money.
The results were a mixed bag, with six issues passing and five failing. Here are the results:
Chillicothe R-II 37¢ per $100 in assessed value tax levy increase: PASSED
Columbia 65¢ per $100 in assessed value tax levy increase: PASSED
Laclede 49¢ per $100 in assessed value tax levy increase: PASSED
Niangua 93¢ per $100 in assessed value tax levy increase: FAILED
Maplewood-Richmond Heights 50¢ per $100 in assessed value tax levy increase: PASSED
Marshfield R-I 50¢ per $100 in assessed value tax levy increase: FAILED
Mexico 40¢ per $100 in assessed value tax levy increase: FAILED
Newburg R-II 96¢ per $100 in assessed value tax levy increase: FAILED
Ft. Zumwalt R-II 48¢ per $100 in assessed value tax levy increase: PASSED
Saint Louis City 75¢ per $100 in assessed value tax levy increase: PASSED
West Plains R-VII 95¢ per $100 in assessed value tax levy increase: FAILED
We also followed two other ballot issues. Here are the results from those:
Hickman Mills “No Tax Increase” Bond: PASSED
Ladue 38¢ per $100 in assessed value debt levy increase: PASSED
(I’ll check back on the results in the coming days to see if there are any changes.)
So what do we make of all of this? A few thoughts:
- It appears that the largest of the tax levies (93¢ in Niangua, 95¢ in West Plains, and 96¢ in Newburg) failed. Those levies meant hundreds of additional dollars in taxation for property owners. Folks were clearly skeptical that so much money was necessary.
- Urban and suburban districts’ measures fared better than those in rural areas. St. Louis, Columbia, and Maplewood-Richmond Heights’ levies all passed, as did the measures in Hickman Mills and Ladue.
- Saint Louis was able to simultaneously pass the earnings tax and a school tax levy. I think there is every reason to be concerned that this may continue to push people out of the city as they are asked to pay more and more to a city that hollows out its tax base via TIF and a school system that routinely fails to make the grade.
We’re going to stay on top of these tax levy issues. Be on the lookout for another round of analysis before the next slate of elections in November.
