A new state law that aims to freeze property taxes on primary residences for many senior citizens will not be in effect in Howard and many other counties. That’s because SB 190, which was signed into law by Missouri Governor Mike Parson in July and went into effect on Monday, August 28, allows counties to decide whether or not to incorporate the new rule.

On Thursday, Howard County Presiding Commissioner Jerimiah Johnmeyer said that the county will opt out of the new rule but will give voters a chance to decide.

“People can petition it and put it on the ballot and let the voters vote on it,” Johnmeyer said. “What worries me is the loss of revenue that the tax base funds. And property tax goes primarily to the school districts.” 

Johnmeyer said he is also concerned about the financial hit this new law could mean for the county. “We’re tight on revenue as it is,” he said. While around 60 percent of property taxes are allotted to local public schools, less than three percent goes toward county road and bridge maintenance, less than six percent to the ambulance service, and slightly more than one percent to the Howard County Public Library. 

The county’s margins are already severely thin, and Johnmeyer said the online sales tax that voters approved in 2013, which accounts for around $200,000 a year, is helping keep the county afloat.

The option will not automatically appear on the next ballot. Those in favor of the new measure must first circulate a petition to gather five percent of the total voter turnout of the last gubernatorial election held here, which in 2020 was 5,135. That would mean fewer than 260 signatures would be needed to place the measure on the ballot on November 7.

The Missouri senate’s summary of SB 190 states that the new act “authorizes a county to grant a property tax credit to eligible taxpayers residing in such county, provided such county has adopted an ordinance authorizing such credit, or a petition in support of such credit is delivered to the governing body of the county and is subsequently submitted to and approved by the voters, as described in the act.”

The new law also puts the responsibility of figuring these tax credits to the counties where it is approved. Howard County Collector Jinger Felten said she expects implementing the new rule would cost the county around $179,000, not including lost property tax revenue.

Additionally, SB 190 doesn’t clarify when the property tax freeze becomes effective.

Felten said she has been meeting with other county collectors to figure out how to implement the new act, if it were to be approved by Howard County voters. 

The tax break will not affect every senior citizen. The bill defines eligible taxpayers as residents who are eligible for Social Security retirement benefits, are the owners of record of or have a legal or equitable interest in a homestead, and are liable for the payment of real property taxes on such homestead.

However, those don’t include teachers, firefighters, and other public employees who don’t collect Social Security but receive pensions.

The tax freeze, which will be handled as a tax credit, must be equal to the difference between the real property tax liability on the property in a given year minus the real property tax liability on the property in the year in which the taxpayer became an eligible taxpayer, according to the senate’s bill summary.

Other parts of the bill seem to convolute the spirit of the new rule, placing undue burdens on counties, and, therefore, taxpayers. One Jackson County legislator said the bill appears unfinished. Legal challenges to the new law are likely, and the legislature could further refine the bill during its next session in the spring of 2024.

Another part of the new law is a provision where social security recipients will no longer have to pay income tax on their social security benefits beginning in 2024.