Tuesday, Sep. 25 2012 4:32PM

City rolls up tax levy

City Council votes on issue debated in prior months

By Russ Pulley

rpulley@lsjournal.com

The Lee’s Summit City Council voted 6-2 to rollup the city’s tax levy to the ceiling allowed by the Hancock Amendment.

The city’s general fund tax rate for this year is .9213 cents per $100 assessed value.

The rollup will cost homeowners about $5.36 a year on a $100,000 house, $8 on a $150,000 and $10.72 on a $200,000 house.

The decision on Sept. 20 was made with very little discussion at that City Council meeting, but there had been hearings and debates concerning the rollup at several prior council meetings. Councilmembers Bob Johnson and Ed Cockrell voted against the rollup.

The Hancock Amendment prevents cities from getting a windfall on property taxes when assessments of property values go up, but the amendment has a provision which allows cities to keep revenue levels by setting a higher levy when the city’s total assessed value drops. That was the case for the city the last couple of years due to the sluggish economy.

Without the rollup the city would lose about $404,600 in revenue for its general fund, according to Conrad Lamb, Lee’s Summit’s finance director.