R-II revenue losses expected

The recent announcement that Energizer will be closing its Maryville plant will have a lasting impact on not just the employees who will find themselves without jobs.

Maryville R-II School District superintendent Larry Linthacum recently met with the Nodaway County assessor's office, and discovered that Maryville R-II stands to lose an estimated $385,000 in personal property tax revenue.

There is also a possibility that another $126,000 could be lost from real estate taxes.

The district discussed the financial impact from tax revenues during their meeting last week.

Figures are not clear yet, and depend on the assessed value of personal property that will happen in January 2013.

Currently, 79 percent of the district’s total revenue is local, an additional 15 percent comes from the state, and the remaining 6 percent is federal monies.

“These are worst-case scenarios,” Linthacum said. “Our first and foremost priority is the kids.”

Linthacum said that the revenue loss is the least of the district's concerns at this time.

According to the most recent parent employment records, 49 students in the district have at least one parent that works at the plant.

“We are looking into starting a support system for the students,” Linthacum said. “They need support for the challenges they will be going through with their families.

“I know this has a huge impact on our community, and we are very concerned for the families involved. Our staff and counselors are aware and are having discussions about it. We want to be proactive with the support we provide.”

While numbers on the revenue losses are still uncertain, what is known is that they will not take effect until the 2014 school year.

“We still have time to plan,” Linthacum said. “For now, we want to be as efficient as we can, we still have to be good stewards of our patrons' money.”

For that reason, the district has put any long term improvements or expansions on hold until next spring when revenue loss figures will be announced.

The losses could bring the total tax revenue for the district down to around $16.9 million.

“That is a substantial loss,” Linthacum said. “But we are trying to plan for the worst and hope for the best.”