Senators renew push for senior property tax relief as hurdles remain

Jan. 24—Buchanan County resident and senior citizen Carol Van Scoy considers herself fortunate that her personal property taxes don't weigh heavily on her balance sheet.

With rising costs for expenses like groceries and utilities, seniors on fixed incomes combined with an already tight budget can be particularly susceptible to increases in property tax rates.

"I don't mind as a senior citizen paying my taxes because I can. But there are some who cannot," Van Scoy said. "There are many people who do not have the ability to do that and they struggle."

As members of the Missouri Legislature convene in Jefferson City for the 2024 session, many hurdles remain before property tax relief for senior citizens could potentially find its way on the ballot in Buchanan County.

Missouri counties received the initial green light to enact property tax freezes for seniors after Gov. Mike Parson signed Senate Bill No. 190 into law last July. Many counties, including Buchanan, put on the breaks after language in the bill left governing bodies with more questions than answers on how to implement it.

The bill establishes that property tax relief would come in the form of credits.

"That's a big one we're all concerned about is by capping this, what effect is that going to have on those school districts financially?" said Ron Hook, Buchanan County Western District Commissioner.

The concern is shared by city and county governments across Missouri that worry about the fiscal damage lost tax revenue could cause to school districts and libraries as well as essential services like ambulance and fire districts that rely on it.

Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer, R-Parkville, is looking to address some of those concerns by sponsoring a new bill — No. 756 — to amend language in Senate Bill No. 190. The legislation changes the definition of 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.

The amendment also establishes the tax credit to be determined at the date the person reaches age 62 and the measure is also adopted by the county. For example, if a resident is only 55 years old when the measure is adopted, they cannot request credits for the rate they had at age 55 when they later turn 62 and become eligible. The high-priority bill is expected to see more additions for clarification in other areas.

It's one of four different bills related to property tax relief that already have been referred to committee in the Senate this month.

Counties roll it out

Close to a dozen counties have enacted senior property tax relief with varying conditions since the passage of Senate Bill No. 190 according to NPR, including St. Charles, Jackson and St. Louis counties.

"The counties that bulled ahead and enacted it in some shape or form, I don't think it's 10 that are the same way. Because there's different interpretations," Buchanan County Presiding Commissioner Scott Nelson said. "Right now it's too broad."

St. Charles' measure was structured as not to impact bonds for ambulance districts, fire districts and school districts. Residents of St. Louis County must be 67 years old and have a home valued at no more than $550,000 to qualify for annual property tax credits.

U.S. Census data shows there were 517,086 senior citizens owning houses in Missouri in 2022. The potential loss of revenue per county will depend on the number of seniors who own homes.

In St. Louis County, roughly 10% of homeowners are over 65 while 44% of homeowners in Morgan County are over 65, according to Senate data.

Locally, commissioners are less concerned about the impact of lost tax revenue on the county as they are about the potential impact on the city, school district and other entities that have higher property tax rates and rely more on the revenue. Enacting such a measure could also have a notable impact on the ability of districts and entities to budget future revenues.

A fiscal analysis of Senate Bill 190 projects the city could lose $107,301 during the next five years. The school district would stand to lose $636,000 while the Rolling Hills and St. Joseph library districts would lose close to $13,000 combined. The road/bridge fund would lose out on $13,000. Personal property taxes are assessed at 33.3% of the property's true value in money.

A major question that still remains is how the cap would be applied overall. Both the original and amended bills give no directive on whether the cap would apply to all of the taxing entities like the school and library or just the county alone.

"If we pass it across the board, you're gonna have the school district and libraries and those entities that don't think we should be able to do that," Nelson said. "If we say it's just going to apply to the county portion only, you're gonna have probably the senior citizens that are gonna be upset about it."

The bill has created a challenging situation. One that could potentially be left for Buchanan County voters to weigh in on. The court system could play a role as well.

If an amended bill were to pass by the end of the session that addressed enough of the concerns, finalizing everything in time for the August ballot would still be a tall order and require a "100-yard sprint."

"In the meantime, we can have discussions with these other counties, find out how they did it, why they did it, and see how that would impact our local community," Buchanan County's Eastern District Commissioner Scott Burnham said. "I think any time we could give seniors a break that is on a fixed income. It's certainly something that I could support. But we just wanna make sure we do it the right way."

The county is keeping a close eye on the outcome of the bill and readying for an upcoming meeting with the County Commissioners Association of Missouri for further discussion.

Some in the legislature are determined to take property tax relief a step further. Sen. Bill Eigel, R-Weldon Spring, is renewing a push in 2024 to remove personal property taxes altogether in Missouri. Eigel is also running for governor this November.

If a measure is ever adopted in Buchanan County, Van Scoy would like to see it cater to low-income residents or those on a fixed income.

"I think we haven't come very far in helping those in need," she said. "I think we need to think more about that and do whatever we can to lift those people up."