State Senate gives first-round approval for property tax relief act

The Missouri Senate has given first-round approval to a measure that would provide senior citizens with relief from rapidly rising property taxes. According to a news release from the Senate News Service, the Homestead Preservation Act, sponsored by Sen. Chuck Gross, R-St. Charles, would cap property tax increases at 5 percent annually for senior citizens and disabled persons on fixed incomes.

Under current statewide reassessment, a home's value is to be recalculated every two years. With the existing state laws, levies are supposed to be rolled back, because reassessment is not intended to create an overall increase in taxes. However, at the same time, the taxes on an individual property can increase sometimes dramatically if the reassessed value of the property is greater than the average increase of all properties in the political subdivision.

Senate Bill 370 would allow senior citizens and those who are disabled to obtain a credit against their property taxes that exceed a certain amount, estimated at 5 percent. The credit for an excessive increase would then be applied against the taxes paid in the following year.

Assessors would be required to forward all information on applicants for the homestead credit to the Department of Revenue by Oct. 31. The DOR would certify to the collectors and clerks a listing of those applicants who met the requirements of the homestead preservation credit.

"No one should have to sell their home because they can no longer afford to pay the property taxes, and yet that's exactly what happens to many senior citizens in Missouri," Gross said in the release. "No one should have to make that kind of a choice."

According to Gross, legislative researchers estimate that 25 percent of the residential property is owned by senior citizens, and three-quarters of them would fall within the income guidelines set up under the Homestead Preservation Act.

"Part of the American dream is owning a home, and Missouri's seniors have spent their lives working toward that dream. This bill will protect the average senior citizen from rapid and extreme increases in their tax bills," Gross said.

After a final Senate vote, the bill will be sent to the House of Representatives for consideration.