The Cape Girardeau County Commission set the county’s 2021 property tax rates on Aug. 30, after a tax rate hearing was held. No public comments were made during the hearing.
The county general revenue tax rate was set at $0.058, down from $0.075 last year. The general revenue tax rate, which fluctuates each year, is found using a formula mandated by the state auditor’s office that calculates the eligible maximum property tax reduction based on sales tax collection in the county.
The tax rate for Mental Health is increasing from $0.0772 to $0.0773 and the tax rate for Senate Bill 40 is increasing from $0.0553 to $0.0554.
The Senior Citizens Service Fund Board voted to keep its tax rate at 0.0478 instead of raising it to 0.0479 as allowed by law. The board has developed a surplus due to COVID-19 and many of its programs not utilizing all of their funding. A representative of the board said keeping the rate the same would be sufficient this year.
In other action:
• The County sent its first report for the American Rescue Plan on Aug. 27. The County received $7.66 million in ARP funds this year and is expected to receive an additional $7.66 million next year.
“There was not much to report since we haven’t spent any money, but we are compliant,” Treasurer Roger Hudson said.
The County has until 2024 to allocate the funding and has until 2026 to actually spend all of the funding. Hudson said the ARP reports will become quarterly after this initial report. The next report will be due Oct. 31.
• The Commission increased its paving contract to add two additional roads to be paved. The estimated cost is around $250,000, with the Commission approving the costs of up to $275,000.
• The Commission approved a $197,371 bid from Jokerst Inc. of Ste. Genevieve for grading improvements on County Road 525. Five companies submitted bids for the project, with Jokerst Inc. having the lowest bid.
• The Commission approved the purchase of $12,000 of additional shelving for the Cape Girardeau County Archive Center. The purchase with Grainger was supported fully by a grant from the Missouri Secretary of State’s Local Records Program (read more on page 1).
• The Commission approved the purchase of a hydraulic pole saw to go with the recently approved purchase of a new bucket truck. The county’s current hydraulic saw is 12 years old. The cost is an additional $1,648, which includes attachments for the saw.
