- Independence leaders are proposing a 12% property tax rate cut, lowering it from .22 to .194, the city’s lowest since 2007.
- Even with the reduction, the average homeowner would still pay about $39 more per month due to reassessment increases.
- The city is running projections for an even lower rate of .189 before the final vote on Sept. 15.
With home values up nearly 24% this year, Independence leaders are moving to cut the property tax rate in hopes of softening the blow for homeowners.
With 2025 being a reassessment year in Independence for property valuations, Independence Mayor Chris Reinersman said the city tried to lower the tax rate as much as possible to help offset that increase. The Independence City Council held a first reading on Sept. 8 for a tax rate reduction (of 12%) from .22 to .194, which is the compensating rate.
Reinersman said that would be the lowest tax rate in the city since 2007.
“Our goal here is to try to offset the impact of the reassessments as much as we could, while still being responsible for what we have to pay for,” Reinersman said.
Independence Councilmember Greg Steffen asked the council to consider an even lower rate before the final vote.
“I think we should make a gesture to make a gesture and go slightly below the compensating rate to actually cut the taxes in the city,” Steffen said Monday.
The council agreed to have the city finance director run projections for a lower rate of 0.189 to see if it is feasible. The council will hold a second reading on Sept. 15. The council still went ahead with a first reading on the .194 rate.
The average assessed residential property value went up 23.9%, according to the city. The average home value in the city went from $193,951 to $240,237. Reinersman said, based on the average assessed values, the average homeowner is going to pay an additional $39.37 a month in taxes, should the city go with the .194 rate.
Reinersman said he has the city’s finance director pull data from the last reassessment year, 2020, for comparison purposes.
He said the average home price in 2020 was about $179,000, meaning there was about a 34% increase in property values since then.
Reinersman also broke down some of the city’s revenues and expenditures.
“We’ve been in this period of inflation,” he said. “It’s not just home values that have gone up. It’s been everything that has gone up.”
One of those increases resulted from the significant reorganization of the Independence Police Department. In 2020, Reinersman said the average police department salary was $51,566, and the current average is $72,890 based on the current budget, resulting in a 41% increase in the average salary.
He said the city also had to up its number of officers due to the city’s growth, resulting in an actual 72% increase in police pay.
Another city increase is the parks and recreation department. Reinersman said the budget in 2020 for the department was $264,000. The current year’s budget is $1.6 million, due to the splash pad project (budgeted for $1.2 million).
“If I adjust those unusual items out, parks and recreation still work out to about a 107% increase in what we’re spending,” Reinersman said. “I think it’s worthwhile. We’ve got some great programs. We’ve done some great things in the city, and I’m glad we’ve been able to do it, but it has cost a lot more than it used to cost to be able to do these things.”
The municipal road budget increased from just under $2 million in 2020 to just over $3.9 million.
Even so, Reinersman said the city’s revenue projections have increased from about $10.9 million in 2020 to about $13.5 million. He said payroll tax revenue is also up about 66% from where it was in 2020.
The city’s occupational license tax also exceeded the budgeted number. The city estimated $5.1 million, but brought in about $760,000 more.
Reinersman said for the first time, the city’s occupational license taxes exceeded the property taxes.
“Occupational license taxes have gone over, so our single greatest contributor to our programs, to our police department, everything we do is now employers of the city,” he said. “I am terribly excited about that.”
