The Fort Zumwalt School District tax levy for 2026 was set at the September Board of Education meeting. The levy, at $4.13 per $100 of assessed valuation, is $1.11 lower than it was 10 years ago because of Missouri’s Hancock Amendment.
The Hancock Amendment ties the district’s tax levy to property values. When assessed values go up, the levy generally comes down. This protects taxpayers from sudden spikes in their tax bills.
St. Charles County also reassesses home values only in odd-numbered years. That means your 2026 taxes are based on your 2025 assessed value, even if your home’s market value has gone up since then.
Together, these two protections are saving the average Fort Zumwalt homeowner almost $800 this year compared to what they would have paid under the voter-approved 2016 levy.
Property taxes, both real and personal, make up 49 percent of the district’s operating revenue, the funds brought in to pay for salaries, benefits, utilities, supplies, etc. When the state cuts funding to schools, the district relies on this local revenue to make up the difference. In the past two years:
State and Federal aid have not kept up with legally required special education expenses. -$5 million to Fort Zumwalt
The state did not fully fund transportation. -$500,000 to Fort Zumwalt
The state did not fully fund education this year. -$3 million to Fort Zumwalt
The State Board of Education has already determined it will not request this funding to be restored for next year.
There also have been reductions in the district’s property tax revenues. The impact of the Senior Tax Credit on FZSD revenue grows each year.
The Senior Tax Credit in St. Charles County freezes the rate for those who qualify, keeping their tax rate flat from year to year. -$1.5 million to Fort Zumwalt
The district works to make up for these losses by finding offsets in expenditures (money we don’t spend) or by deficit spending.