Rockwood School Board Approves 2025 Tax Levy

The Rockwood Board of Education approved the 2025-2026 tax rate at its Sept. 25 meeting. The rate, approved by the Missouri State Auditor, is $3.8816. This is a decrease of $0.0010 from last year’s tax rate of $3.8826. 

The 2025-2026 tax rate represents a decrease of nearly 16 percent from 10 years ago and nearly 10 percent from five years ago. Rockwood’s tax rate is currently at its lowest level in more than 30 years.

As part of the district’s two-year, zero-tax-rate-increase levy transfer made possible by public support for Proposition 3 in November 2023, the Debt Service Levy was decreased to $0.14 and the Capital Projects portion of the operating levy was increased to $0.62, shifting $0.18 from debt service to capital projects. This completes the levy transfer authorized by Prop 3. The debt service levy remains sufficient to satisfy remaining general obligation bond principal and interest, and Prop 3 funds are estimated to total $30,023,937 in 2025-2026.

Rockwood Director of Finance Dan Steinbruegge noted a couple significant factors that went into setting the 2025 tax rate. First, 2025 is a reassessment year, and the district’s assessed valuation (AV) is $5.9 billion. Second, the Prop 3 transfer establishes a new operating tax rate ceiling of $3.8816 for the district.

“The November 2023 ballot language for Prop 3 estimated that our tax rate ceiling would be $3.9960 upon completion of the transfer in 2025, and we are at only $3.8816,” noted Cyndee Byous, Rockwood Chief Financial Officer. “This is due to use of a conservative estimate on the ballot to avoid misleading voters regarding the potential new tax ceiling and the result of the Hancock Amendment rollback of our rate by 26 cents after the ballot language was drafted.” 

Steinbruegge communicated that the Senior Citizen Tax Freeze does not reduce the district’s AV or calculation of the levy but reduces the district’s collection rate used in estimating revenues from the levy. Data is still not available from the counties that would help us estimate the true impact of the freeze, but our collection estimate has been reduced to 93 percent to provide at least some measure of it. Currently, projected revenues generated by this tax rate adequately support Rockwood’s Fiscal Year 2025 operating budget, but the Senior Citizen Tax Freeze still creates a great deal of uncertainty around whether actual revenues will meet the budgeted level.

Rockwood’s strategic plan, Forward Together, cultivates an environment of long-term financial sustainability by optimizing resource allocation, continuing transparency, diversifying and augmenting revenue sources and advocating for policies that support the district’s financial health and educational priorities. 

“I would like to thank the Finance Department for its continued strong stewardship of the district’s finances,” Rockwood Superintendent Dr. Curtis Cain said. “Our Finance staff is routinely recognized for its outstanding work and helps Rockwood maintain our status as the only school district in the state of Missouri that currently holds all four distinctions of a top AAA rating from S&P as well as the Meritorious Budget Award and Certificate of Excellence in financial reporting from the Association of School Business Officials International and the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in financial reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada.”

Find out more about the tax rate adjustment, how the tax rate is determined and the history of tax rates.