The Mehlville Fire Protection District Board of Directors has unanimously approved preliminary tax rates for this year that likely equate to the lowest rates in the county.

At the April 7 meeting, Chief Financial Officer Brian Bond told board members Aaron Hilmer, Bonnie Stegman and Ed Ryan that preliminary assessed values had increased nearly 9.5 percent since the 2020 tax rates were fixed, with a 7.64-percent increase in residential property assessed values and a 12.85-percent increase in commercial assessed values.

Bond used the 2021 tax rate calculator on the Missouri state auditor’s website to project the 2020 nonbinding tax rate, which is the maximum allowable amount that may be levied.

Overall, from 2020 to 2021, the district sees a blended tax-rate rollback of 3.5 cents, due to an increase in assessed values for both commercial and residential real estate.

The decrease in the blended rate will still result in an estimated increase in 2021 tax revenue for the district of $589,625, with a majority of the increase occurring in the general fund – $556,607.

Since all categories of real property increased in assessed values, the permitted revenue growth is limited to the consumer price index, which is currently 1.4 percent.

The final assessed values will not be given to the district until September and must be submitted to the state by Oct. 1.