CLAYTON — The ºüÀêÊÓƵ County Council is reconsidering a proposal to give senior homeowners a property tax break.
Republican Councilman Dennis Hancock pitched a revised bill to the council on Thursday evening at a special committee meeting. In it, the tax break would expire after five years unless the council renewed it. It also more clearly defines who would be eligible and how they would apply for the break.
Hancock even said he might be willing to add a cap to exclude some of the county’s wealthiest homeowners — one of the biggest demands from Democrats who opposed the proposal before.
“We’ve made some progress toward getting this bill to where it can be more palatable to some councilmembers,†Hancock said.
A similar bill failed in July in part over concerns about wealthy homeowners getting a tax break.
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Democratic Council Chair Shalonda Webb of unincorporated North County said she needs the plan to have a cap on home values in order to support it.
“If those things are challenged in court and they’re not legal, the whole bill should be able to come back to the council for a decision,†Webb said.
Hancock said Jackson County, which includes Kansas City, put a cap in its senior property tax break bill.
“I think until someone tells us we can’t do it, we can do it,†Hancock said.
In early July, Gov. Mike Parson signed Senate Bill 190, which allows counties to freeze property tax increases for seniors who are eligible for Social Security, own a home and are required to make tax payments on that home. Counties have the option to enact the bill locally.
Putting a sunset provision into the proposal would allow ºüÀêÊÓƵ County to reconsider after two tax assessment cycles if things don’t go well, Hancock said. But Democrats want the provision to sunset after three years instead of five. Hancock said he was open to that idea.
His new bill makes it clear anyone who is of retirement age according to federal law — as young as 62 — would be eligible for the benefit as long as they meet the other qualifications.
Eligible residents would have to apply by submitting a form to the county collector’s office annually. The collector would have to create a reporting system to monitor the program, but the bill leaves it up to the collector to decide how to run it.
When ºüÀêÊÓƵ County’s bill first came to a vote, four of the seven councilmembers voted against it. Webb, Rita Heard Days of Bel-Nor, Lisa Clancy of Maplewood and Kelli Dunaway of Chesterfield opposed the bill over concerns about wealthy homeowners getting a tax break, how it would be enacted, and its financial impact on taxing districts such as schools.
Hancock needs to convince at least one of them to change their minds.
ºüÀêÊÓƵ County, which collects revenue and distributes it to taxing bodies such as schools, estimated its taxing districts would have missed out on nearly $34 million in revenue over the past four years if the plan had been in place. The county faces a $47 million budget deficit this year, and losing any revenue could worsen that problem.
Advocates argued seniors desperately need tax relief, and say that number is inflated. And even if the council rejects the idea again, county voters could enact the plan through a ballot measure, said Dennis Ganahl, managing director of advocacy group Missouri Tax Relief Now.
“The bill is too popular across the state for county governments to stop it,†said Ganahl, whose group has lobbied for the plan at the state and local level.
St. Charles County passed its version of the freeze earlier this month, which will apply to residents 62 and older and could take effect as early as next year. Four other counties have also passed it: Camden, Greene, Laclede and Jackson, according to Missouri Tax Relief Now.
ºüÀêÊÓƵ County Council members could consider the new measure as soon as Oct. 10.