ST. LOUIS — A plan to freeze property taxes for the city’s seniors is in the works at City Hall, Mayor Tishaura O. Jones said Wednesday.
It would only discount the city’s cut of the annual taxes — roughly a fifth of the total — and it wasn’t clear Wednesday who exactly would be eligible or how much the plan would cost city coffers.
Still, a tax credit, enabled by new state law, could be a critical tool to help struggling seniors stay in their homes, Jones said Wednesday at a roundtable with seniors at a church in the Gate District. She said it could really help on the North Side, where leaders are hoping increased government investment and developments like the new National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency headquarters, at Cass and Jefferson avenues, will drive a renaissance.
“As ºüÀêÊÓƵ grows, this is a tool to combat gentrification,†she said. “Let’s just be honest.â€
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The city is the latest local government to take on the task of implementing the new law, which was intended to cut taxes for older Missourians. Five Missouri counties have already passed it: Camden, Greene, Laclede, Jackson and St. Charles, according to the advocacy group Missouri Tax Relief Now.
Other counties, such as ºüÀêÊÓƵ County and Jefferson County, have balked at passing their own versions, amid concerns that it could provide a tax break for the wealthy, and would be difficult for county staff to manage.
The new state law, enacted in July, generally allows counties to provide a special tax credit to people who are eligible for Social Security, own their home, use it as their primary residence and get tax bills for it. Those eligible would be exempt from paying any more on their property taxes than they were paying for them when they first got the credit.
Residents could also pass the tax break themselves, through a ballot measure. They would need to gather signatures of at least 5% of the number of people who voted in the 2020 gubernatorial election, and then get a majority of the vote on Election Day.
The St. Charles County Council decided not to risk it last month, voting to implement the freeze for its residents as early as next year. The ºüÀêÊÓƵ County Council is still wrestling with concerns that a blanket freeze could effectively be a tax cut for millionaires.
Jones and Alderwoman Anne Schweitzer, who will carry the legislation at the Board of Aldermen, expressed concerns about the same issue.
They said that, like their fellow Democrats in ºüÀêÊÓƵ County, they are considering restricting the eligibility of people with certain incomes or property values.
“What we don’t want is to freeze taxes for millionaires, and then all of a sudden we don’t have the funding to pay our bills to provide basic services,†Jones said.
Schweitzer indicated that unlike St. Charles County, the city would limit the freeze to its taxes alone. Tax money going to the city school district, the Zoo-Museum District, the library system and the other entities would be unaffected.
“We can’t hurt the school district,†said Schweitzer, of Boulevard Heights.
The St. Charles County plan will freeze all levies, despite some concern that such a move may not be legal.
Census data indicates there were roughly 25,000 senior homeowners in the city as recently as 2018. If that hasn’t changed, roughly 12% of the city’s population would be eligible for the tax credit.
Schweitzer said the bill is still being drafted and unavailable for public review.