SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) — If you needed to fill up your car on Tuesday, you may have noticed that prices increased by an average of about 10 cents across southwest Missouri.

According to AAA, the average price for regular gasoline in the Show-me state is currently $3.15, up only two cents from yesterday. However, in the Springfield area, that is a much higher jump. Springfield’s average is around $3.09, while on Monday, it was $2.99.

“In the last couple days, it’s been rising tension in the Middle East,” said Nick Chabarria, a AAA representative. “Anytime that there’s a chance of conflict there, that, of course, impacts crude oil around the globe and certainly right here in the U.S.”

Chabarria said before this week that crude oil prices have declined for four straight weeks. Prices have since gone up to around $80 per barrel. He also said it’s essential to consider where gas prices have been in recent weeks. The average in Springfield at $3.09 is indeed ten cents higher than it was yesterday. But it’s the same average price as a week ago. A month ago, it was $2.95; a year ago, it was $3.60, and he said Missouri has the tenth lowest average price in the country.

“They can go up really, really quickly. It’s really, really hard for them to come back down quickly, typically,” said David Mitchell, professor and director of the Bureau of Economic Research at Missouri State University. “The gas stations have already bought it at that higher price. They’re reluctant to let it go at a lower price that might be below cost, at least until the kind of the tanks are re-emptied and they get a chance to rebuy.”

According to Mitchell, a number of factors can impact the price you pay at the pump. He attributes the recent spikes to unrest in the Middle East and the fact that summer vacation is winding down.

“I think you have a lot of people going out for one last hurrah before the semester starts for their kids,” said Mitchell. “I think that has a lot to do with it as well, too.”

With the end of summer, AAA said prices typically get lower in the colder months.

“Partly because there’s less demand for gasoline, but also because stations will switch over from summer blend gasoline to winter blend, which is a little bit cheaper to produce,” said Chabarria.

While drivers can’t do anything about the price of gas, there are a few things that they can do to help offset how much fuel they consume. AAA suggests keeping up on your car’s maintenance. The idea is that if your car is performing well, it’ll be more fuel efficient. Also, AAA suggests consolidating your trips. If you can, consolidate your errands into as few trips as possible.

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HARRISONVILLE, Mo. (KCTV) – Shocked! That’s how a Harrisonville woman said she felt after winning Big Money Scratchers.

The top prize of $100,000 was claimed on a ticket in Cass County.

READ MORE: Former Marion police chief charged in connection with newspaper raid

“I never in a million years thought I would win $100,000,” she said. “I scanned it on the machine and I just lost track of where I was. It was unbelievable!”

The winner immediately went home to share the news with her family. She plans on using her prize to become debt-free.

Her winning ticket was purchased at Ducky’s, 1901 E. Mechanic St., in Harrisonville.

Over $4.8 million in prizes have been claimed by players of the $5 Big Money Scratchers since June 24, when the ticket was released. An additional four $100,000 top prizes remain unclaimed.

ALSO READ: Jackson County lawyer: One way or another, court order on assessments will be challenged

Cass County won over $15.9 million in Missouri Lottery Prizes in 2023. Retailers received more than $1.6 million in commissions and bonuses and more than $4.9 million in Lottery proceeds have gone to education programs in the county.

To get the latest news sent to your phone, download the KCTV5 News app here.

Copyright 2024 KCTV. All rights reserved.

Jackson County officials say they plan to fight a recent ruling from the Missouri State Commission that ordered the county to roll back its 2023 property tax assessment.

The commission told Jackson County to reevaluate its 2023 assessments within 30 days, by Sept. 5. Jackson County Executive Frank White, along with County Assessor Gail McCann Beatty, County Administrator Troy Schulte and the county’s legal team, said Monday that they are exploring an appeal.

Deputy assessment director Maureen Monaghan said the commission’s ruling, should it go into effect, would hurt the taxing jurisdictions that rely heavily on revenue collected from property taxes.

“The State Tax Commission has never issued a retroactive assessment, because they know the detrimental impact it has on the schools, the cities, the fire districts, the libraries, the blind,” she said.

The order issued last week threatens to upend an assessment process that has already caused frustration for many homeowners and served as another flashpoint between Jackson County Executive Frank White and members of the county legislature.

Legislators say the county should not open up another legal challenge, and should instead focus on mitigating taxpayers’ burden while reducing harm to taxing districts like public schools, whose budgets could be in jeopardy.

“Everybody in the county knows that we did not do all this properly,” said Legislator Sean Smith. “It’s just such an obvious, glaring fact that, I’m asking for collaboration and believe the fix can be had so that we fix this for taxpayers, and we don’t harm the taxing entities any more than necessary.”

Many taxing jurisdictions and local governments already set their budgets and established their tax rates for this year — many of them lower than previous years to offset the increased assessed value. Taxpayers already paid their 2023 tax bill, which reflected the new values.

Calculations from County Executive White’s office estimate that schools and libraries could lose more than $86 million; cities and fire districts could lose nearly $20 million.

County officials say about $118 million has already been collected from property tax revenue and allocated to taxing jurisdictions like school districts.

“It’s been spent on teachers,” said County Administrator Troy Schulte. “It’s been spent on firefighters. It’s been spent on prosecutors, in the case of the county and corrections officer. That money is spent.”

The commission ordered Jackson County to cap increases of assessed values at no higher than 15%. That means most homeowners’ assessments will be lowered to 2021 or 2022 levels, plus a 15% increase.

The State Tax Commission alleges that Jackson County failed to follow state law and properly notify property owners in writing whose assessed values increased by 15%. The commission said the county also failed to comply with state law by not performing a physical inspection of properties where the assessed value went up by 15%.

The commission also said the county did not provide homeowners with clear written notice of their rights to a physical inspection.

Jackson County’s 2023 assessment process raised property assessments by an average of 30%, and some homeowners saw increases above 100%.

Next steps

It’s unclear what, exactly, will happen next, with county officials at odds over how to respond to the state tax commission’s ruling.

The commission does not give instructions beyond the order to roll back 2023 assessments.

The county could simply cap assessment values at 15% where applicable, and not issue a refund to taxpayers. Officials say that could open the county up to liability from taxpayers who may have overpaid in their 2023 tax bill.

The county could issue refunds to homeowners whose assessed property values increased by more than 15%. But county officials in the executive’s office say refunds are unlikely because much of the money has already been allocated to county services and taxing jurisdictions – and the county can’t afford it.

The county could issue refunds to eligible homeowners and then claw back that revenue by not allocating money to taxing districts over a certain period of time. That option, too, could be detrimental to city governments, public libraries and public schools.

Impact on school districts, libraries, cities

If the State Tax Commission’s order goes into effect, it’s likely to cause headaches for jurisdictions like school districts, public libraries and local governments that receive a significant portion of revenue from property taxes.

County Counselor Bryan Covinsky said 65% of property tax collections go to school districts and 17% of that money goes to localities like Kansas City.

Kansas City estimated about $9 million in property tax revenue for its 2024 fiscal year budget, which the city council passed in the spring. Property taxes are the city’s third-largest revenue source.

Covinsky said the county will work with school districts, cities and impacted taxing jurisdictions to figure out the best way to legally challenge the commission’s order.

“It’s unconstitutional, it’s unprecedented, and it has no evidence to even prove it,” Covinsky said. “We’re going to be working with the subdivisions that have actually been harmed by this decision that’s done retroactively that will affect the future of their budgets as well.”

What does it mean for taxpayers?

County Administrator Schulte said the commission’s ruling will likely not result in homeowners receiving a refund or tax credit, even if their home’s assessed value goes down. Instead, taxing jurisdictions like school districts will have to reevaluate the rate they ask taxpayers to pay based on their home’s assessed value.

School districts must set their levy by Oct. 1 each year. Missouri’s Hancock Amendment requires districts to lower their levies if property values increase more than inflation, so lower levies offset the impact of higher assessments on taxpayers.

Last year, higher assessments led to school districts in Lee’s Summit and Blue Springs to reduce their levies. Kansas City Public Schools is exempt from the Hancock Amendment, so its levy did not change.

Schulte said taxing districts will likely increase their levy, in line with Missouri law. He said when assessed values decline, the state constitution lets taxing districts raise their levy to allow districts to collect the amount of revenue they had already budgeted for.

“What you’re looking at is potentially the largest tax increases, because of the state tax commission order, in the history of Jackson County,” Shculte said. “I want to disabuse people that they’re going to get some lovely refund check because of this egregious error by the county. It’s not going to happen, and in most cases, you’re going to pay a lot more.”

Should taxing districts increase their levy this year, Schulte warned, homeowners whose assessed values did not exceed 15% could be hardest hit. Their tax bill would end up increasing to make up for the decrease in assessed values for other homeowners.

“That’s the reality we’re going to deal with over the next couple of months, unless we can find a solution to this,” Schulte said. “There is no free lunch in local government, so the bills have to be paid some way, somehow.”