November Ballot Issue…
replace the lost revenue. It has met those needs for
COMMUNITY IMPACT
Leaders discuss the impact of a reduction in the county commercial surtax rate
S
ince the Laclede County Commission decided
to place an issue on the November ballot to
lower the county surtax, the issue has been
discussed widely throughout the county.
Supporters of lowering the tax say it would
provide relief for county businesses and pro-
mote economic development, while some
tax-supported entities say it could harm
their ability to provide services.
If approved by voters, the issue would
reduce the county’s commercial prop-
erty surtax levy on all utility industri-
al commercial, railroad and all other
real property that is not residential
or agricultural from $1.03 per
$100 assessed valuation to .51
per $100 assessed valuation
effective Sept. 1, 2023.
Presiding Commissioner Randy
Angst said the issue first came up
when commissioners heard from a
local business owner.
“An individual from the business
community approached us to look at the
surtax levy in Laclede County compared to
the surtax in an adjoining county that they
owned property in and they were curious
about. That’s kind of where this started at and
then over the course of a few weeks time that dis-
cussion evolved into discovery,” he said. “There was
some research done and ultimately the commission
decided to let the people of Laclede County decide,
so this is on the November ballot.”
Angst said he wanted to make clear that as presid-
ing commissioner he can provide information about
the surtax issue, but “I am not advocating for or
against because that would violate the position I’m in.”
Webster County’s surtax is at .37, Camden .03,
Pulaski .49, Dallas .24, Wright .68.
“As we looked at what that number should be, one
thing we looked at is how do we compare to those
counties surrounding us,” he said.
Statewide, Laclede County now has the 14th highest
surtax rate.
“If the ballot question is approved by the voters of
Laclede County, we’ll be the 44th highest out of 114
counties,” he said. “If you look at the surtax rate of all
the counties you’ll come up with an average of .54, so
it seemed reasonable to us, looking at those counties
surrounding us would be a logical place to start so the
commission decided that we would ask the voters if
they would like to reduce it to the .51.”
The property surplus levy goes back to the 1980s
when it replaced the old merchants and manufactur-
er’s inventory tax. The legislature placed an issue
on the ballot to reconfigure the tax structure that in-
cluded the current assessment rates for commercial,
residential and agricultural properties. In addition to
Laclede Industries
PAGE 16 | LACLEDE COUNTY RECORD’S WEEKEND EDITION | SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2022
worked on in my time in
By Steve Smith
Laclede County Schools
that, the surtax was created and the inventory tax was
eliminated. Each county then had to come up with
the new surplus tax rate.
Counties were given a formula and tasked with
coming up with a levy rate to replace lost revenue
from the inventory tax. A group with representatives
from different taxpaying entities in 1984 set Laclede
County’s surtax at $1.03.
According to the state constitution, the surtax rate
could never be raised above the initial ceiling that
was approved.
“However, by a majority vote by the citizens of a
county, it could be lowered,” Angst.
While Laclede County’s surtax is $1.03 Angst said
surrounding counties have lower rates for their tax.
Angst pointed to numbers showing entities have
gained money as a result of increased assessed valu-
ation. He said Senate Bill 40 also known as Laclede
Industries gained approximately $24,000 a year as a
result of increased assessed valuations of rural prop-
erty, agricultural, residential and commercial property.
(The library generated $49,000 a year before the surtax
and SB40 generated $36,000.) The school district gen-
erated $1,151,000 more compared to last year.
Laclede County has about 1,450 commercial par-
cels, including manufacturers and utilities.
“Utilities are big contributor to this so if you con-
sume utilities you’re probably paying part of this
tax because all that is usually a pass-through to the
end user,” he said.
Breaking the list down, there are also 500-plus
families that are part of that, including mom
and pop businesses, Angst said.
“When you take that list, manufactur-
ers down to the mom and pops, they
are certainly responsible for creating
the vast majority of jobs in Laclede
County,” Angst said. “I think they
are paying their taxes, not only their
commercial property, but also as
other taxpayers, they also have
their own personal real estate and
personal property taxes, so certainly
they are paying their taxes. To me it
comes
back to
looking
at the as-
sessed val-
uations and
saying what
re v e n u e s a re
being generated
that are necessary to provide the level of services we
would want to enjoy here in Laclede County.”
At a County Commission meeting on the issue in
August, local business owner Bill Stunkel said the
county’s current surplus tax is higher than that of
surrounding counties and is an unfair and inequitable
burden on businesses.   reviewing details and preparing a public position
He said it puts Laclede County on an unequal
playing field when it comes to attracting business.
“It affects sales tax revenue, it affects the appearance
of the town when you consider vacancies,” he told
the commission.
He pointed to the surtax of surrounding counties,
including Dallas at 24 cents, Webster at 37 cents and
Pulaski County at 49 cents.
“If you average those numbers of counties that
surround us, you’re looking at a 47 and a half cent
average,” he said at the meeting. “If you don’t think
prospective retailers look at tax rates before they make
decisions on where to locate their business, you’re
mistaken because they do.”   “I think anytime one taxing jurisdiction makes a
In an interview with the Record, Lebanon R-3
School Superintendent Dr. David Schmitz said a rea-
son for widely varying surplus rates for area counties
is because of the industries in that county.
“For example, the Camden County surtax is very
low, they have a heavy hospitality industry, there isn’t
a manufacturing presence to speak of, certainly not
in 1983 and 1984, so there was comparatively little
to no revenue that had to be replaced,” he said. “In
our county, there was a full amount of tax money to
be made up, that’s why the $1.02 was set in 1984, to
the past 37 years.”
Schmitz said the surtax is calculated as a part of
the district’s local revenue and he is concerned about
the effect cutting it could have.
“It’s a part of our annual projections for revenue
that we look forward to, if the surtax is reduced to 51
cents, in the first year it will result in an approximately
$275,000 reduction in our local revenue,” Schmitz said.
He said that over a 10-year period that would
amount to about $3 million.
“Because that is a part of our budgeting process and
things we anticipated, when we budget we will have
to eliminate that amount from our expenditures,” he
said. “In proportion to our overall budget that may not
look like a huge amount, I certainly believe $275,000
is a lot of money, it becomes a concern because of the
annual compounding that continues year after year
to be lost revenue.”
He said the district includes the revenue in its long
term planning.
Schmitz said the school board remains committed
to the Proposition Lebanon Schools salary increases
next year.  services, it doesn’t reduce anything for our residents.”
"The challenge we have is make sure once we
get to the middle of the pack that we can sustain
that and stay there,” he said.
The goals of  Proposition Lebanon Schools in-
clude  staff pay competitive with area districts by
next year, to provide a sustainable maintenance plan,
and  purchase newer buses to bring the average age
of buses from over 14 years on average to less than
10 by 2029.
He said the district has to maintain fund balances
to make sure payroll and other obligations can be
taken care of.
"That's why if there is a  significant reduction in
the annual revenue, such as is proposed in the surtax
reduction, then we would have to have a commen-
surate reduction in our expenditures," he said. "The
largest expenditure we have, over 77 percent of our
expenditures come from staff pay and benefits."  staffing, instead of reducing our services as much
He said a reduction would require a slowing down
or retraction would be necessary.  last thing we want to do is cut our services to people
“It’s not appropriate for me to speak for our board
as to where those cuts would come from, we cannot
continue to spend the amount of money we spend,
we would have to find a spot to pull the $275,000 out,
where that comes from will be the product of a lot of
discussion,” he said.
Schmitz said the state funding level is flat and has
been for four years. He said there is currently not an
avenue for the school district to increase revenue.
"I do not foresee the board asking the community
to increase the levy to accommodate for this loss of
revenue," Schmitz said.
Schmitz also wanted to point out that this cut is
reserved for owners of commercial real property.
"The vast majority of all taxpayers and voters will
not see a reduction," he said. "It is important for each
voter to understand that their tax bill will continue as
it has been with this vote regardless of how it goes."
Schmitz also said the school district wants to con-
tinue to see the business community prosper.
"I learned from the city that less than 5 percent
of our commercial property is vacant," he said. "The
economic growth in our community is very strong.”
He said the district’s position “Is purely based on
the fact that we have counted on these dollars for
four decades.”
According to Schmitz, the school board is currently
related to the surtax. A resolution may be adopted at
the next school board meeting.
He said the board had limited time to respond to
the issue.
“If we had been notified much earlier, the board’s
analysis and formal position could have been made
very clear and perhaps helped inform the commission
about what they might have done with either the
amount or the assessed reduction or the amount of
the tax rate or whether to do it at all,” he said.
Lebanon City Administrator Michael Schumacher
said the city is concerned about the issue’s possible
impact.
decision for other taxing jurisdictions, it becomes very
challenging,” he said. ”Anytime you lose revenue,
particularly general fund revenue that’s supports the
entire universe of core services it’s very difficult to
articulate a positive impact.”
Schumacher said the city is still trying to determine
the effect the tax cut would have but believes it would
cost them $500,000 to $600,000 over a 10-year period.
Schumacher said the surtax has not been an issue
for business retention in the city.
“In all the economic development projects I’ve
LACLEDE COUNTY RECORD’S WEEKEND EDITION | SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2022 | PAGE 17
Lebanon, the issue’s never
been brought up by any
At the right is Distribution of Surtax
a listing of all
private business,” he entities receiving December, 2021
said. “It’s an interest- surtax funding, from MARCH 2021 -FEBRUARY 2020
ing discussion, we’re Laclede County Collector
not sure where it all Steve Pickering’s Office.
came from. As in- The distribution amounts
flation has increased are for December
2021 and do not
costs, assessed values represent totals
have increased accord- for the year.
ingly, keeping the dollars
produced in revenue appro-
priate to meet the needs of the affected entities.”
He said the city has about a 5 percent vacancy rate
for commercial businesses.
“We’re full, we don’t have a bunch of vacant store-
fronts,” he said.
Schumacher said one of the most important eco-
nomic development factors for any community is its
schools.
“That’s followed by public safety and the streets,
livability,” he said. “This would reduce taxes for those
Linda Kimrey, director and CEO of Laclede Indus-
tries (Senate Bill 40), which supports persons with
developmental disabilities in the areas of residential,
employment, and related services was also concerned
about the effect of the possible tax cut.
“Obviously, I would be concerned, we’re living in
a time of unprecedented inflation, employee wages
have skyrocketed in the last couple of years and all of
our costs are going up, at the same time our funding
is not going up in the same amount,” Kimrey said.
She said Laclede Industries could lose approxi-
mately $24,000 a year in funding if the cut is approved.
“Keep in mind that effect would be going forward
year after year,” she said.
Kimrey said they make every effort not to cut
services.
“What we’ve done in the past, is try to reduce
as possible, and increase efficiencies,” she said. “The
with disabilities, so we would do everything we
could first, but there comes a point in time where
you have to do what you have to do to survive.”
Kimrey also wanted to remind voters that the
tax cut is for commercial property only and will not
affect most voters.
“I have a grand-niece that has cerebral palsy
and the effects that could happen through LEEP,
the library, special road districts, the city, can be
dramatic when compiled with the current market-
place,” she said.
Sam Allen of the Lebanon Laclede County Li-
brary Board said they had decided to take a low
key approach to the issue.
“The board has met a couple of times and talked
about it, it was our decision that we’re not going
to make a big issue out of it,” Allen said. “We just
want the people to know that there is a possibility
this could hinder some of the things the library does
for the community.”
Brian Thompson, president and CEO of Leba-
non Regional Economic Development, Inc. which
promotes economic development in the area, said
voters should be sure they are informed about the
issue.
“I would encourage everyone to first and fore-
most get out and vote in the upcoming election. We
are certainly blessed to have such a right that not
everyone across the world enjoys,” he said in an
email. “As far as this specific issue, I likewise
encourage voters to do their homework. Be sure
to talk to the sides affected and review the
coverage that the issue is receiving from area
media outlets to make the most informed
decision possible. Again, we are fortunate
to have such freedom to do so, that is not
a luxury everywhere in the world.”
Lebanon-Laclede
County Library
Road Work