(KTTS News) — Voters in the Battlefield Fire Protection District are being asked to approve a tax levy increase.
The department wants a 25-cent increase.
It would be used to replace a fire truck that’s at least 20-years old.
The increase would cost someone who owns a $200,000 dollar home an extra $95 a year.
The last time the levy was raised was 2012.
The fire department says it’s trying to keep up with growth in the area.
“The Battlefield Fire Protection District has the lowest tax levy rate per capita in the region for fire protection of any fire protection district with full-time staff. Population and economic growth have tremendously increased demand for services while tax revenue has been reduced through the Hancock Amendment. From 2010 to 2020 population has increased more than 40 percent. In 2010, there were 2000 incident responses compared to more than 3,000 in 2022. The last voter approved levy was in 2012 for $0.25 bringing the levy to $0.61. This has been reduced $.06 to $0.55 by the Hancock Amendment and was involuntarily reduced by the Missouri State Auditor to $0.53 cents in 2021. The new proposed assessment would set the levy at $0.78 cents or a net $0.17 cent increase.”
