New Missouri law can only freeze property taxes if counties act. Will KC area get relief?
Missourians who qualify for social security retirement benefits may soon be eligible for a property tax credit each year, but only after counties take action.
Gov. Mike Parson recently signed the Homestead Exemption bill into law, which allows individual counties to create a property tax credit for homeowners who are eligible for social security.
The state legislature’s research division estimates that more than 85,000 people would qualify for the relief in Jackson County — and more than 13,000 people in Platte County, 15,000 in Cass County and nearly 30,000 in Clay County would qualify.
The only way those residents will see that tax credit is if individual counties opt into the program. To get the tax relief program up and running, counties will need to pass a county ordinance or get a petition signed by at least 5% of the county’s residents to then put the item on the ballot.
Officials in Jackson, Cass, Clay and Platte Counties who spoke with The Star said they are in favor of the idea of tax relief, but most said they still have questions about how this specific law will work.
And at this point, none of the counties anticipate being ready to implement the relief program in time for this year’s tax deadline.
“SB 190 provides an opportunity to give much-needed financial relief to seniors facing rising healthcare, food, and housing costs. However, it has certain shortcomings that need to be addressed,” Jackson County Executive Frank White said in a statement.
What will the law do?
The law will give counties the option to freeze property taxes by providing a tax credit to offset yearly increases for homeowners who qualify for social security.
The tax credit would be equal to the difference between someone’s most recent tax bill and their tax bill from the year they first became eligible for the program, after the program is officially put in place in the county.
How much it would cost counties
The legislature’s research division estimates that in the tax relief program’s first year, Jackson County would lose $7.5 million in revenue. Clay County would lose about $3.6 million, Cass County would lose $1.2 million and Platte County would lose almost $1 million.
When will the law go into effect?
The law is set to go into effect on August 28.
Missouri Republican Rep. Tony Luetkemeyer said in a text to The Star that if a county adopted an ordinance shortly after the law goes into effect, then the credit would be in place before property bills are due this December.
But, the law does not actually specify when counties need to adopt the new law.
None of the four Missouri counties in the metro have an official timeline for when residents can expect to receive a tax credit.
What steps are KC-area counties taking to set up this tax relief?
Jackson
Jackson County officials told The Star that they think the new state law is too vague to be able to implement the tax relief program immediately, and the county’s assessment director Gail McCann Beatty described it as “not feasible.”
County Executive Frank White Jr. said in a statement that the county’s first step will be to hire a third-party consultant to review the law, clarify questions about it and help the county form a plan for getting the relief program off the ground.
Clay
Clay County officials told The Star that they are already planning for the relief program’s rollout, but that it will not be up and running in time for this year’s tax bill.
Clay County commissioners have formed a committee alongside the county’s assessor and a legal expert to discuss the law’s language and to draft an ordinance for commissioners to vote on as soon as possible. Clay County Presiding Commissioner Jerry Nolte said he wants the county’s program to ensure that as many people as possible can benefit from the tax credit.
Cass
Cass County has plans to pass an ordinance in support of the new tax relief law, but it will still take a few weeks before the ordinance is drafted, according to Cass County Commissioner Bob Huston.
County officials said they do not have a timeline for how long it will take to launch the property tax credit program if commissioners pass an ordinance.
Platte
Platte County Presiding Commissioner Scott Fricker said that commissioners are working with lawyers to better understand what the law means and that they plan to meet with taxpayers and representatives from taxing jurisdictions like the library board and the fire district to hear their thoughts on what the county’s relief program should look like.
“There’s some ambiguity with the bill. We have to make sure we do things right,” Fricker said.
Fricker said he does not have a timeline for how long it will take to launch the property tax credit program if the ordinance is passed by the county commissioners.
