An error from the county clerk will result in an elevated property tax rate for the 2016 year.
County and city officials met Tuesday to discuss the error. According to Doc Kritzer, Callaway County commissioner, the county clerk entered wrong information for the city of Fulton and the Fulton School Districts assessed property valuations. Becuase of the errant numbers, there were differences in the assessed valuations of $4.3 million and about $300,000, respectively.
The assessed valuation is reached by taking a percentage of the market value of a resident's property. Both real estate and personal property are taken, and depending on the purpose of the property, a percentage is taken from the market value and deemed the assessed value.
Commercial property is assessed at 32 percent of market value, personal is assessed at 19 percent and agricultural property is assessed at 12 percent.
Fulton city officials talked about how to best fix the problem at Tuesday's council meeting. Fixing the tax statements, scheduled to be sent out later this month, would cost an estimated $15,000 dollars and an incredible amount of manpower, Kritzer said.
The error committed by the county clerk prompted a 2.5 cent per $100 hike in the property tax charges issued to Fulton residents. The hike would result in an additional $27,500 taken from taxpayers. Owners of $100,000 worth of property can expect to pay an additional $4.46 for 2016 taxes and have the money returned the following year.