Senior property tax relief bill headed for governor’s desk

By Cameron Montemayor

Revised legislation passed out of the Missouri Legislature could pave the way for more counties to enact property tax freezes for senior citizens.

Senate Bill 756, sponsored by Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer, R-Parkville, grants property tax credits to senior citizens age 62 or older. The amended measure recently passed both legislative chambers and is now headed for the Gov. Mike Parson’s desk.

Currently, personal property taxes are assessed at 33.3% of the property’s true value in money.

“One of the things that I heard consistently from seniors in my Senate district is that out-of-control property taxes were risking them being evicted from their home by the government. And that’s not acceptable,” Luetkemeyer said.

With lingering inflation impacting numerous expenses like groceries, gas, vehicle repairs and utility bills, personal property tax bills can weigh heavily on many seniors surviving on a fixed income now.

“When they see a dramatic increase in their property taxes on their home and their home is generally their largest asset. Seniors are at risk …” he said.

Data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that residents age 65 or older will represent more than one-fifth of all Missouri residents by 2030, a projected increase of nearly 90% between 2000 and 2030.

The amended legislation changes property tax credit eligibility from a resident who qualifies for Social Security benefits to now any Missouri resident age 62 or older who doesn’t owe back taxes or payments to the county.

“We do have a certain number of seniors that, for various reasons, don’t qualify for Social Security. Maybe they receive all their retirement benefits from a pension like school teachers, firefighters or police officers,” Luetkemeyer said. “So we wanted to make sure that none of the Missouri seniors are left out of this important tax relief.”

A recent AARP survey found that many seniors are struggling financially, more than a quarter of seniors over 50 had no retirement savings at all.

In St. Joseph, roughly 16.5% of the population — more than 11,500 people — are age 65 or older.

Local resident Barbara Yarbrough is one of many seniors living on a fixed income in Buchanan County. She is happy to hear new traction is being made to open the door for senior tax relief.

“I was excited to hear about it some months back. And I thought as a person on a fixed income, that it would be a great benefit,” she said. “Most people that I know that are my age. It’s very hard.”

Missouri counties initially received the OK to enact property tax freezes for seniors last year after Senate Bill No. 190 — also sponsored by Luetkemeyer — was signed into law in July 2023.

But many counties, including Buchanan, held off on implementing the measure after language in the bill left governing bodies with questions about how to implement it. Officials were concerned about the impact of lost tax revenue on taxing entities like the St. Joseph School District, city and fire and ambulance districts.

A major question at the time centered around whether the credit had to be applied to all of the county’s taxing entities or if select ones could be exempt.

Revised language in Senate Bill 756 allows counties to adopt reasonable procedures in order to carry out the measure, except changing the age requirement of 62 years old.

“I had conversations not only with the Buchanan County Commission, but also with the Platte County Commissioners. What it represents is a lot of the concerns that counties raised about the implementation of Senate Bill 190, Senate Bill 756 addresses and fixes those concerns,” Luetkemeyer said.

Buchanan County Commissioners are expected to make a decision on how to proceed once the bill has been signed into law by the governor.

Yarbrough is pleased to see county officials and lawmakers are working to try and accommodate both sides.

“I wouldn’t want the police department or the fire department or schools to suffer because of giving us this break,” she said. “It would be wonderful to have if it doesn’t short them.”

The amendment spells out that a person’s tax credit will be fixed at the rate the person had when they reached age 62 and the measure is also adopted by the county.

If an eligible taxpayer makes new construction and improvements to their home, the property tax liability for the taxpayer’s initial credit will be increased to reflect the value after improvements.

A petition must be signed by at least 5% of the registered voters of such county voting in the last gubernatorial election to get a tax freeze referendum added to the ballot.

Despite early concerns about implementation, close to a dozen counties have enacted senior property tax relief with varying conditions since the passage of Senate Bill No. 190, including larger counties like St. Charles, Jackson and St. Louis counties.

“That was part of the goal behind the bill this year was to increase the number of counties that are going to ultimately adopt the Senate Bill 190 protections to put in place those freezes … “ Luetkemeyer said.

Several counties have directly adopted the measure by passing an ordinance. The bill also provides ballot language for counties that decide to put it to vote. Counties like Jackson and St. Louis are requiring residents to apply for credits through the county on a yearly basis.

Several counties have adopted models that prevent residents from obtaining credits if their home is valued over a certain amount, others have left home value caps off entirely.

Residents in counties that haven’t adopted tax freeze measures have taken matters into their own hands. The Missouri Independent reported in April that a lawsuit was filed early this year against St. Louis County for failing to get a measure implemented.