The Board of Aldermen of the City of California approved 2019 property tax levies, among other business, Aug. 15.
The city is required by state law to set tax rates no later than Sept. 1 each year. Tax rates for the city of California, as discussed in the Board's tax levy hearing last week, will remain the same as in 2018 - respectively, general revenue will be taxed at .4212 and parks at .1663, both per $100 assessed valuation. These tax rates are the maximum rates the city can assess while remaining compliant with the Hancock Amendment, which imposes restrictions on the amount of personal income used to fund Missouri state government and the amount by which fees and taxes can be increased each year.
These rates were approved following the hearing in a special meeting of the Board of Aldermen. Additionally, the Board approved a request from California Mayor Norris Gerhart to have city council meetings take place twice per month for the months of September and October, because of the amount of agenda items the Council has to tackle in the near future.
Per his request, Gerhart asked that meetings take place on the first and third Mondays each of the next two months. Gerhart said the first meeting each month will pertain to regular city business, while the follow-up meeting will pertain to city department issues and projects.
The Council already approved moving its next meeting from the first Monday of September to Sept. 3, but the next meeting will take place, as approved, on Sept. 16. Meetings in October will take place Oct. 7 and Oct. 21. All meetings will take place at 7 p.m., as usual.