Tax Hike Approved by Brentwood School Board

Four members of the Brentwood Board of Education, enough for a quorum, met Tuesday night and approved a .

The increase of nearly 9.4 cents per $100 of assessed valuation for homeowners was recommended by Superintendent Dr. Charles Penberthy and recently approved by the state auditor.

Commercial owners will see an increase of slightly more than 5.6 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. The personal property tax rate is smaller; it dropped by nearly 4.5 cents per $100 in assessed valuation.

For a $123,600 home—Brentwood's median housing value according to the 2000 U.S. Census—homeowners would pay an extra $21.98 on their tax bill if their home values remained the same.

Before the vote, Penberthy said total assessed valuation went down approximately $8 million over the past year. The majority of that deficit came from commercial valuations, which dropped $6.3 million.

Since 2007-08, residential valuations have dropped $11.4 million, personal property valuations dropped $8.9 million and commercial valuations have climbed $1.8 million,  Penberthy told the school board.

In a previous year, the school board set the property tax rate before receiving assessed valuation numbers from St. Louis County. Most school boards set the rate too low that year, said Chris Jones, president of the Brentwood school board. That's because the state required school districts to set their rates by Sept. 1, instead of Oct. 1.

To offset the difference, the Brentwood school board decided to recoup the loss over the next three years. This is the second year of that recoupment.

Penberthy noted that the Brentwood School District has the fourth-lowest adjusted tax levy in St. Louis County, out of 22 districts reporting.

Ladue has the lowest with $3.10 per $100 of assessed valuation. Normandy, at $6.25, has the highest.