The Reporter newspaper, Camdenton Missouri

The Reporter covers Miller, Morgan and Camden County in Central Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks and is published once per week on Wednesdays.

Published July 22, 2015

More money: three tax increases on Aug. 4 ballot

By Dale Johnson
CAMDEN COUNTY – Three separate tax increases for three separate entities will come before the voters on August 4 with two of them being fire issues.

The Osage Beach Fire Protection District (OBFPD) will try to follow the lead of the Mid-County Fire Protection District’s (MCFPD) successful effort to raise taxes last year.

Residents approved a 12-cent tax levy for MCFPD in April of 2014 in Camden County after initially voting against the measure in a special election the previous November.

OBFPD, however, is seeking slightly more than MCFPD.

“Shall the Board of Directors of the Osage Beach Fire Protection District be authorized to levy an additional tax of not more than fifteen cents on the one hundred dollars assessed valuation to provide funds for the district?”

Those in the fire district, which includes Linn Creek, will make the decision.

Another fire department is also seeking a tax increase on the August 4 ballot and unlike their counterparts, they are seeking more than twice what OBFPD and MCFPD requested.

The Southwest Camden County Fire Protection District is seeking to raise taxes to fund the district, which covers the area of Macks Creek along with the surrounding territory.

“Shall the Board of Directors of the Southwest Camden County Fire Protection District be authorized to levy an additional tax of not more than thirty cents on the one hundred dollars assessed valuation to provide funds for support of the district?”

The final tax increase will be brought before residents of the Stoutland School District and if the ballot measure appears familiar, it is. Nearly an identical ballot measure was defeated by voters in April of this year.

The only difference between the two is a very slight change in the wording.

April 2015 wording: “Shall Board of Education of the Stoutland R-II School District, Missouri, be authorized to eliminate fully the Proposition C Sales Tax Rollback in its operating levy under section 164.013 R.S.Mo as amended, in order to provide funds to meet the operating fund of the district? If this proposition is approved, the adjusted operating levy of the School District is estimated to increase from $2.75, currently, to $3.4326 per one hundred dollars of assessed valuation for the 2015 Tax Year and can be applied to the assessed valuation for each year thereafter.”

August 2015 wording: “Shall Board of Education of the Stoutland R-II School District, Missouri, be authorized to eliminate fully the Proposition C Sales Tax Rollback in its operating levy under section 164.013 R.S.Mo as amended, in order to provide funds to meet the operating fund of the district? If this proposition is approved, the adjusted operating levy of the School District is estimated to increase from $2.75, currently, to $3.4326 per one hundred dollars of assessed valuation for the 2015 Tax Year and that same rate can be applied to the assessed valuation for each year thereafter.”

Despite the minor change in wording, the outcome is the same as in April for the proposed tax increase.