Update: This article has been updated to include a State Auditor's approved recoupment of $.0001 for each of the Zoo Museum District institutions.
The Zoo Museum District board is lowering tax rates for the coming year. This will amount to St. Louisans paying a fraction of a cent less per one hundred dollars of taxable property.
Although the tax rates are lower than those set in 2014, the board voted for the maximum amount that could be collected in support of the subdistricts. That tax rate is determined across all five institutions based on calculations that include the value of property in the district, the current consumer price index, and the growth in revenue made by the district in the previous year. These calculations are made in compliance with the state’s Hancock Amendment, which limits state and local government taxation.
Each year these calculations, and the resulting tax rate, determine the maximum amount to be collected to support the Zoo, Science Center, Art Museum, Botanical Gardens and History Museum.
Zoo Museum District Board approved tax rates for 2015:
- St. Louis Art Museum: $.0793 per $100 of assessed value ($.08/$100 for 2014)
- St. Louis Zoo: $.0793 per $100 of assessed value ($.08/$100 for 2014)
- Missouri Botanical Garden: $.0397 per $100 of assessed value ($.0399/$100 for 2014)
- Missouri History Museum: $.0397 per $100 of assessed value ($.0399/$100 for 2014)
- St. Louis Science Center: $.0397 per $100 of assessed value ($.0399/$100 for 2014)
The board also plans to take up the proposed new Code of Ethics at its October meeting now that it has been approved by the city attorney. The policy has been under review for close to 18 months. The evaluation was spurred by concerns regarding potential conflicts-of-interest that resulted in at least one board member resigning.
