By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Possible property tax relief for Missouri senior citizens has been broadened.
State Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer of Parkville succeeded last year in passing Senate Bill 190 giving counties the option to freeze the property tax assessments of senior citizens. Luetkemeyer updated it this year and it has been signed into law.
“Before it was limited to seniors who received Social Security benefits. We have a certain number of seniors that don’t receive Social Security; so, teachers, firefighters, police officers, people who receive their retirement benefits from public pensions,” Luetkemeyer tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. “And so, what the bill did this year is it clarified some provisions in SB 190 and expanded that tax relief to every senior in Missouri age 62 or older.”
It is possible property tax relief, because counties have to approve it. The state cannot impose a tax cut on counties.
Luetkemeyer explains the tax break must be approved at the local level, either by the county commission or a vote of the people, due to the Hancock Amendment. Luetkemeyer says the Hancock Amendment is well known for its limit on raising taxes without a vote of the people.
“There’s also a lesser-known provision in Hancock that prohibits the state legislature from passing an unfunded mandate; that is something that requires the county to implement and then lose potential tax revenue as a result of the mandate from Jefferson City,” Luetkemeyer says. “The reason that we put the local option in there for the county commission to implement the bill is to get around the Hancock Amendment. So that’s the reason behind that.”
Luetkemeyer says it is up to the local county commission to implement it.
“If a county commission is unwilling to implement an ordinance, passing into effect SB 190, then the voters have the ability to go out and collect signatures, put that on the next ballot, and then implement it through a vote of the people.”
Luetkemeyer says he pushed for the tax break after learning that some senior citizens saw their property tax bills skyrocket over the last two assessment cycles.
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