KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The schools, cities, libraries and other jurisdictions which collect tax dollars from property owners in Jackson County, Missouri, have set their tax levies for 2023.
All the jurisdictions lowered their rates compared to 2022 except for three: Kansas City Public Schools, Raytown C-2 Schools and the city of Oak Grove.
All three of those jurisdictions kept their tax rates the same in 2023 as 2022. Because property values increased in 2023, those taxpayers will likely see an increase in their tax bill despite having the same tax rate.
KCPS predicts property owners will pay an extra $300 dollars. It’ll be about $90 extra dollars for property owners within the Raytown Schools boundaries. Oak Grove anticipates collecting $250,000 more dollars from property taxes in 2023 than 2022.
The Hancock Amendment puts a cap on how much tax revenue the state of Missouri and taxing jurisdictions within the state can collect.
It says most jurisdictions can not collect more tax dollars than what the jurisdiction needs to keep up with inflation.
There are exceptions — the Hancock Amendment does not apply to newly constructed property, or property added to a jurisdiction. The rule does not apply to taxes used for debt services. And voters can approve tax rates higher than the Hancock Amendment’s cap.
A court order exempted KCPS from the amendment as well and set the school district’s levy at 4.9599. The district can keep the same rate every year, or lower it.
This year, the board decided to keep the rate the same. It estimates the rate will collect $33 million more in 2023 than in 2022.
Below is a chart breaking down the tax levies:
Most of that money will go to deferred maintenance at buildings within the district.
Issues with air conditioning forced the district to close some schools early during a heat wave in August. The district said it has about $400 million in maintenance to complete.
“I think Kansas City schools really need more support, so if they use our tax dollars for that, I’m happy,” said Whitney, whose tax dollars fund the school district.
In Raytown, voters approved two questions on April’s ballot giving the district permission to keep its tax rate of 6.32 in 2023 as 2022.
The district will use some of the new funds to improve salaries for teachers to help with retention and recruitment.
“You invest in your future, that’s how I feel about it,” said April Harrington, a Raytown taxpayer. “I don’t feel like anybody is looking forward to paying more taxes, but if you don’t invest in the children, then your community starts going downhill.”
Oak Grove lowered the general revenue part of its tax levy, but raised its debt service portion (which is exempt from the Hancock Amendment).
Altogether, 2023's tax rate of 0.7647 is the same as 2022. Oak Grove’s rate is still below the maximum allowable levy of 1.0355 as calculated by the state.
Property owners will receive tax bills in November. Payments are due by Dec. 31.
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