Christian County voters reject property tax freeze

Christian County last night rejected a proposal that would have capped property tax increases on their primary residence by a margin of 52%-48%, according to unofficial election results posted by the Christian County clerk's office.

Past Springfield Business Journal reporting explained Senate Bill 3, the title of the ballot issue, resulted from a law signed into effect by Gov. Mike Kehoe in June 2025, and 97 of the state’s 114 counties were required to give voters a choice of a property tax cap.

Christian County was among 22 Missouri counties given the option of capping property tax increases at 0%, while another 75 counties were given the option of capping property tax at 5% per year, or the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is greater, according to SB3.

Greene County was exempted by state Sen. Lincoln Hough, a Republican representing the Springfield area’s District 30. The law also exempted larger counties like Jackson County, St. Louis County and St. Louis city.

Christian County’s ballot measure asked, “Shall the county of Christian exempt eligible taxpayers from certain property tax increases on eligible taxpayers’ primary residence above the tax liability incurred during the taxpayers’ initial credit year?”

Against the benefits of holding property taxes at their current level permanently, leaders of entities funded by property taxes led an information campaign to demonstrate how that would hurt their ability to plan and to grow with the community.

The Ozark Fire Protection District is fully funded from property taxes, and Chief Jarrett Metheny said in past SBJ reporting that the freeze would make it difficult to forecast revenues and develop a budget.

Libraries, senior services, ambulance services, fire districts, roads, cities and schools also stood to lose funding from the measure, according to past SBJ reporting.

State senators established the level of the proposed tax limitations for their districts, capping the increase at a rate between 0%, a freeze, and 5%. Sen. Mike Moon, R-Ash Grove, selected the freeze for the District 29 counties he serves, including Barry, Lawrence, McDonald and Christian. Moon said most people, including himself, want their taxes to be lower.

The unofficial vote count on Senate Bill 3 was 5,286 against and 4,866 in favor, with 15% of 69,288 registered voters participating, according to unofficial results from the Christian County Clerk’s Office.