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Lee's Summit R-7 Board of Education approves property-tax levy
September 30, 2010
By Janice Phelan
The Lee's Summit R-7 School District Board of Education approved an approximately 12-cent property-tax levy rollup at a tax-rate hearing, held Sept. 29. The tax rollup totals 12.01 cents and is based on each $100 assessed valuation.
This slight property-tax rollup is allowed by state law and provides school districts with the opportunity to regain a portion of revenue lost due to lowered property assessments. Missouri law requires that school districts roll back their tax levies when they see gains in assessment, and the R-7 School District reduced its property-tax levy by approximately 40 cents from 2003 through 2007.
The Board of Education approved an 8-cent rollback in 2007, an 18-cent rollback in 2005 and a 14-cent rollback in 2003, all following increases in property-tax assessment by the county. In addition, the R-7 Board of Education voluntarily reduced tax rates during 1989 through 2004, saving taxpayers over $6 million. The same state law requiring the tax rollbacks also allows districts to roll up their tax levies within their tax-rate ceilings when property assessments decline.
The 12.01-cent property-tax rollup is 2 percent of the total Lee's Summit R-7 property-tax levy. In all, the tax levy will change from $5.9347 to $6.0548 per $100 assessed valuation. The roll-up is similar to a 9.88-cent property-tax increase approved by the Board of Education in August 2009 following lowered property assessments. The change in the tax levy will help the R-7 School District maintain the same amount of revenue that the district received in 2009. Lee's Summit R-7 is facing its most severe financial crisis in its 60-year history due to ongoing losses in state funding, combined with the lowered property assessments.
Even with the slight levy rollup, the R-7 School District is cost containing close to $19 million in 2010-11 with the possibility of more severe budget cuts in future school years. Although R-7 officials have been preparing for this cost containment for several years, this year's $19 million in cuts is a significant portion – 12 percent – of the district's overall budget.
Cost containment for 2010-11 includes staffing reductions totaling close to 100 employees, a teaching schedule change requiring high-school instructors teach an additional course each day, the implementation of combination classrooms at several elementary schools to equalize class sizes while also reducing staff positions, reductions to the elementary summer-school program, a district-wide salary freeze, deferring of maintenance and reductions of budgets district-wide.
To help the district address this budget crisis, the R-7 Citizens' Advisory Committee recently launched a study of the district's finances and possible solutions. The study includes a community survey, which is available at the district's website until noon Oct. 4. To participate in the survey, visit www.leesummit.k12.mo.us and select "Community survey."
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