§ 137.055 RSMo — County commission to fix rate of tax, when, exceptions — public hearing to be held, when, notice, effect

1. After the assessor's book of each county, except in any city not within a county or any county with a charter form of government, shall be corrected and adjusted according to law, but not later than September twentieth, of each year, the county governing body shall ascertain the sum necessary to be raised for county purposes, and fix the rate of taxes on the several subjects of taxation so as to raise the required sum, and the same to be entered in the proper columns in the tax book. Any city not within a county and any county with a charter form of government shall set the tax rate by October first of each year for each calendar year after December 31, 2008.

2. Prior to fixing the rate of taxes, as provided in this section, the county governing body shall hold a public hearing on the proposed rate of taxes at which citizens shall be heard. A notice stating the time and place for the hearing shall be published in at least one newspaper qualified under the laws of Missouri of general circulation in the county at least seven days prior to the date of the hearing. The notice shall include the aggregate assessed valuation by category of real, total personal and other tangible property in the county as entered in the tax book for the fiscal year for which the tax is to be levied, the aggregate assessed valuation by category of real, total personal and other tangible property in the county for the preceding taxable year, the required sums to be raised from the property tax for each purpose for which the county levies taxes as approved in the budget adopted under chapter 50 , the proposed rate of taxes which will produce substantially the same revenues as required by the budget, and the increase in tax revenue realized due to an increase in assessed value as a result of new construction and improvement, and the increase, both in dollar value and percentage, in tax revenue as a result of reassessment if the proposed tax rate is adopted. Failure of any taxpayer to appear at said hearing shall not prevent the taxpayer from pursuit of any other legal remedy otherwise available to the taxpayer. Nothing in this subsection absolves county governing bodies of responsibilities under section 137.073 nor to adjust tax rates in event changes in assessed valuation occur that would alter the tax rate calculations.