ST. LOUIS — ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ officials intend to continue allowing a senior citizen property tax freeze only on homes appraised at $500,000 or less, despite a new state law that sponsors insist bars such limits.
Conner Kerrigan, a spokesman for Mayor Tishaura O. Jones, asserted that when the Legislature barred counties and ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ from limiting “the definition or scope†of who would qualify for the tax break, lawmakers did not prohibit putting a cap on qualifying home values.
“They did not put restrictions on homestead eligibility,†Kerrigan said. He said that’s not “an area that the state statute touched.â€
The city’s position diverges from ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ County, which in July removed its previously approved $550,000 home value cap. The goal of the state law is to protect older homeowners from facing big jumps in tax bills if the value of their home spikes.
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Sharply disputing the city’s position are state Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer, R-Parkville, who sponsored the state bill, and state Rep. Ben Keathley, R-Chesterfield, who handled the measure in the House.
“If you’re limiting it based on the value of someone’s home, you are thereby restricting the class of eligible taxpayers†and thus violating the state law, Keathley said Monday.
ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ and the two state lawmakers also are at odds over the city’s plan to continue freezing only the amount seniors owe on the city government’s portion of their property tax bills — roughly 20% of the total levy.
Exempt would be property taxes that go to the city schools, the community college district and other governmental entities.
That, the lawmakers say, violates the state law's provision barring counties and ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ from limiting the scope of the eligible tax credit.
The local tax freezes, originally authorized by the Legislature in 2023, don’t provide homeowners much relief if the large portions of tax bills going to school districts aren’t affected, said Luetkemeyer, of the Kansas City area.
“They’re trying to thwart and undermine the law, and that’s really unfortunate,†he said of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ officials.Â
Earlier this year, the Legislature revised its 2023 law to clear up ambiguities, such as specifying that homeowners 62 and older are eligible for the benefit.
Under the earlier state law, the tax freeze was limited to homeowner taxpayers eligible for Social Security benefits, potentially excluding some seniors such as public school teachers, who don’t participate in Social Security.
Another change in the state law closes a loophole enabling someone to buy a low-value property, lock in a low property tax and then dramatically boost the property’s value through major improvements.
Last week, the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Board of Aldermen gave preliminary approval to a bill updating the city tax freeze ordinance to make similar changes.
But the city measure, which could come up for a final vote this Friday, would continue the $500,000 cap on affected home values and limit the impact of the freeze to the city’s part of the property tax bill.
“The city needs every dollar it can get so it can continue to provide city services,†said the bill’s sponsor, Alderman Michael Browning of the Forest Park Southeast area.
The tax break shouldn’t go to people who don’t need it, he said.
The ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ County Council, when it passed its update measure in July, removed its previously approved $550,000 cap on the value of eligible homes after County Revenue Director Tony Smee concluded that eliminating it was required by the new state law.
The county’s freeze applies to all parts of qualifying seniors’ property tax bills except for parts of tax rates that go to pay off government debt. Keathley, the lawmaker, said he thinks that exception violated the new state law, as well.
Steve Hobbs, a lobbyist for the Missouri Association of Counties, said when the new state law was passed last May, “the general understanding we had†is that it barred adding wealth limitations and exempting some local districts from a senior tax freeze.
But that is changing, he said. The organization more recently has been advising member counties to consult their own attorneys on how they interpret the state law “and to act accordingly.â€
“At the end of the day, it was pretty vague,†Hobbs said of the law’s wording.
Dennis Ganahl, with MO Tax Relief Now — a group that has advocated for the senior tax freezes — said he expects that “a senior that’s being hurt by this†would go to court to challenge the city’s position.
Moreover, he said his group would “certainly look to find an attorney†to work on the case if needed.
Another option for opponents, Keathley said, would be to gather signatures to seek voter approval for a revised version of the law. That’s specifically allowed by state law, he pointed out, as tax freeze ordinances can be enacted by county governing bodies or via petition campaigns.
ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ began taking applications for the senior tax break in March. ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ County expects to begin accepting requests Oct. 1.
View life in ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ through the Post-Dispatch photographers' lenses. Edited by Jenna Jones.
