By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
An effort will be made this legislative session to revise state law that would freeze the property taxes levied against the home of Missouri’s senior citizens.
The provision was a part of a larger bill by state Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer, a Republican from Parkville, approved in the previous legislative session. Luetkemeyer says he will work to clarify the intent of the legislation.
“There were some issues with the language of the bill that some of the county commissions around the state have expressed some concern with and want some clarity on,” Luetkemeyer tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. “And so I have filed a Senate Bill 190, a quote-unquote clean-up bill, that helps to address some of those concerns, to make sure that we’re implementing 190 and getting tax relief to Missouri seniors, so we never risk a senior being taxed out of their home.”
Luetkemeyer’s legislation would allow Missouri counties to freeze the property taxes on the primary residence of a senior citizen.
Even supporters of sports betting seem discouraged that anything will be passed this legislative session in Jefferson City.
Luetkemeyer points out surrounding states, such as Kansas, have already approved sports betting, putting Missouri in an uncompetitive position.
“As a consequence of that, because Missouri’s the only state really in the Midwest that has not taken any action, we’re seeing our tax dollars, which are earmarked for educational spending, going from Missouri over to Kansas subsidizing their schools or, on the St. Louis side of the state, going over to Illinois, and subsidizing Illinois’ schools,” according to Luetkemeyer.
Luetkemeyer isn’t optimistic anything will pass this year. Still, he says legislation is needed not just to reap dividends for the state, but to provide consumer protections for those placing bets on games.
“We want to make sure it’s a regulated environment where consumers are protected, no Missourian is getting ripped off, and we’re keeping our tax dollars here in the state of Missouri.”
The senator does favor changes to the initiative petition process, especially raising the threshold to pass constitutional amendments.
“If you look at the Missouri Constitution right now, it looks closer to a phone book than it does to a constitution, because of the number of special interest statutes that have been put into the constitution, because the initiative petition process is so easy in Missouri,” Luetkemeyer says.
Changes to the initiative petition process have passed the House, but have stalled in the Senate.
The Missouri legislative session runs through mid-May.