County commercial surtax question on November ballot

Since the Laclede County Commission decided to place an issue on the November ballot to lower the county surtax, the issue has been discussed widely throughout the county. Supporters of lowering the tax say it would provide relief for county businesses and promote economic development, while some tax-supported entities say it could harm their ability to provide services. If approved by voters, the issue would reduce the county’s commercial property surtax levy on all utility industrial commercial, railroad and all other real property that is not residential or agricultural from $1.03 per $100 assessed valuation to .51 per $100 assessed valuation effective Sept. 1, 2023. Presiding Commissioner Randy Angst said the issue first came up when commissioners heard from a local business owner. “An individual from the business community approached us to look at the surtax levy in Laclede County compared to the surtax in an adjoining county that they owned property in and they were curious about. That’s kind of where this started at and then over the course of a few weeks time that discussion evolved into discovery,” he said. “There was some research done and ultimately the commission decided to let the people of Laclede County decide, so this is on the November ballot.” For more on this story see Saturday's LCR.