TINA-AVALON R-II SCHOOL DISTRICT TAX RATE CERTIFICATION IN ERROR

A misunderstanding between the Missouri State Auditor's Office and the Tina-Avalon R-II School District led to a tax rate certification error that resulted in erroneous property tax bills being sent out to taxpayers in the district for the 1999 tax year.

Each spring the State Auditor's Office sends revisions of Prior Year Tax Rate ceilings, based on state assessed property tax amounts, to each district in the state. This revised rate is the starting point for the following year's computations.

On June 8, 1999 the district appealed to the State Auditor's Office that the revised Prior Year Tax Rate Ceiling should be changed back to the original 1998 tax calculation. The State Auditor's Office agreed and changed the figure to the original 1998 tax calculation. The basis for this change was a successful 1998 ballot initiative for a Proposition C Rollback Waiver.

On December 7, 1999, after personal property tax bills had been mailed out and several tax payments received, the State Auditor's Office learned from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) that there was a discrepancy with Tina-Avalon's tax levy and DESE's records. After being contacted by DESE, the State Auditor's Office discovered Tina-Avalon's ballot initiative did not meet the criterion of a tax levy increase as required by the Hancock Amendment.

The revised rate used for calculating Tina-Avalon's tax levy was in error, which caused the district's certified tax rate to be in error as well.

There was no intent on the part of the school district to levy an incorrect amount of taxes. Although the excess levy was inadvertent, the district's levy will require adjustment in tax year 2000.