Northeast Vernon County Sets Tax Levy

By Johannes Brann

On the evening of the first day of school for the 2025-2026 school year (Aug. 21), the Northeast Vernon County (NEVC) R-1 School Board set its property tax rate; reviewed information on its two recently purchased buses and heard a summary of the Annual Secretary of the Board Report (ASBR).

All seven board members were on hand for the meeting: Tisha Bailey, Heath Brown, Heather Brown, David Bruce, Connie Gerster, Scott Pritchett, and Deland Prough. Also present were Elementary Principal Eric Rhodes, High School Principal Brad Clark, and District Superintendent Christy Jones.

The evening began with a 5:30 p.m. tax hearing. A one-page document was distributed which noted the Adjusted  Assessed Valuation on which tax revenue is received totaled $23,357,747 in the 2024-2025 school year while for the 2025-2026 year it is $25,440,777.  While the property tax rate was $5.35 per $100 of assessed valuation for the past year, the rate for the 2025-2026 year will be $5.2597. If all district patrons paid their taxes on time, the new rate would result in the district receiving a total of $1,338,109, an increase of just over $87,500 as compared to the previous year.

A motion to set the above named property tax rate was approved with seven voting in the affirmative and no one in opposition. Other than the board members themselves, there were no district patrons in attendance for the tax hearing. With business concluded, the tax hearing was adjourned and the regular board meeting was called into session.

On Wednesday, July 30, the NEVC R-1 School District took delivery of two buses to replace a pair which, in April, had been deemed not worth repairing. With new paint, bus number six, manufactured by Thomas Built Buses has 65,200 miles. Bus number 7 was manufactured by IC Bus, a subsidiary of International; it was delivered with an odometer reading 33,430 miles.

Although the day was very hot and the buses arrived about 2-hours late, as they rolled into the school parking, the face of Superintendent Christy Jones turned from a look of concern to a broad smile.

She declared, “Because our school board foresaw the eventual need, this district has been saving back most of the funds we receive for transportation from the State of Missouri. And so when we needed to go out and get replacements, we had the $145,000 it took to purchase these two really good 71-passenger buses. It’s also our plan to do a lot better job of preventative maintenance so we get the most out of them.”

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) notes on its website, how the Annual Secretary of the Board Report (ASBR), due Aug. 15 each year, includes the beginning and ending fund balances as well as revenues, expenditures, debt obligations and funds held for transportation needs. While it does not replace the annual professional audit, the ASBR serves as a quick snapshot of school finances.

The Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA), an independent accounting organization, recommends school districts have on hand the equivalent of at least two months of operating revenues, a 16.7 percent reserve.

Explained Jones, “The report we submitted shows an unrestricted reserve of 56.7 percent. It’s that high because instead of making payments on our two new buses at six percent interest, we paid cash and saved the district money. And instead of hiring another district to manage the Parents As Teachers (PAT) program for us—as we’ve done in prior years—we’re about to hire our own person and save money.”

She noted the district had assumed substantial debt in order to redo the heating, air, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems in the districts two buildings about four years ago. The finance agreement stipulates reserves be maintained for regular payments.

While the NEVC R-1 School District is the newest in Vernon County, formed in 1996, both of its buildings are 96 years old. When the district was exploring options for financing the new HVAC systems, it was told no lien could be made upon its buildings as they were of such an age and condition that they had no loan value.

Said Jones, “New construction is so expensive so we’re going to have what’s called a building audit to determine what needs to be done, and hopefully we can do it over a number of years. And just about every year, some promised funds fail to arrive and so I’ve learned it’s just smart planning to maintain healthy reserves.”