The Affton Board of Education unanimously approved the district’s 2023 tax rate at its Sept.19 meeting.

The total tax rate –– which sits at $4.839, a $0.3718 decrease from last year – maintains a voluntary tax rollback of 35 cents. First introduced in 2017, this 35-cent rollback will reduce the tax burden for the community by approximately $2.18 million.

Over 2022, assessed valuations for 2023 increased by 18% – or $93 million – throughout the district. Changes in assessed valuations directly affect annual tax rates as rates are determined by dividing the gross revenue needed by the current assessed valuation. Due to this, the total tax rates decreased from $5.2097 in 2022 to $4.8379 in 2023, a $0.3718 difference.

“Affton School District and the Board of Education continue to pledge our commitment to fiscal responsibility for our community,” Affton Superintendent Travis Bracht, said in a press release. “This includes doing all we can to save money for our taxpayers and helping ease the tax burden on the Affton community while still maintaining the funds necessary to operate the district and support key improvement strategies that will keep our schools and our community strong.”

The new rates per $100 assessed valuation are:

Real estate – residential: $3.9396 ($0.4236 decrease from 2022)

Real estate – commercial: $4.8766 ($0.4587 decrease from 2022)

Personal property: $5.6669 (no change from 2022)

Blended rate: $4.3479 ($0.3718 decrease from 2022)

Total tax rate: $4.8379 ($0.3718 decrease from 2022)

In other fiscal news for the district, all staff members on the teacher salary schedule  received a 5% pay increase for the 2023-2024 school year. Additionally, a new support staff salary schedule was also adopted, making pay much more competitive for positions district-wide. In this new schedule, jobs were moved into more similar categories than in previous years, and “levels” were consolidated from 12 to 10.

Further, the Affton School District is investing over $4.78 million in capital improvements throughout the district over the course of the 2023-24 school year. These improvements include: a restroom renovation at Mesnier Primary, large roofing projects that include solar panel arrays at both Mesnier Primary and Affton High School, and an HVAC equipment upgrade and replacement, as well as ADA-accessibility improvements at Affton High School.