Missourians could see lower property taxes through legislation the Senate passed on Thursday.
Senators voted 31-2 to approve the bill. It now goes to the House, which already passed its own property tax legislation. However, the House bill hasn't yet reached the Senate floor.
The Senate legislation contains several provisions, though none makes sweeping reductions. One policy that could lead to lower property taxes would require individual assessment of different property tax subclasses.
Currently, those subclasses, which include residential and commercial properties, are grouped together. Due to the Hancock Amendment, property tax rates must be lowered if property values rise higher than inflation.
However, grouping those subclasses together means one subclass will pay more in taxes if it rises in value faster than the others.
Siloing the subclasses so that increases in the assessed value of one property type do not affect others would make taxpayers more likely to benefit from lower tax rates.
St. Louis County already silos its subclasses. The legislation would require the rest of the state to do the same.
Sen. Sandy Crawford, R-Buffalo, said a focus of the bill is to better inform taxpayers about what they're voting on when it comes to property tax measures.
"This bill is probably going to be too light for some people, but I can say if I used one word to categorize this bill, it would be the word transparency, because this bill has a lot of transparency procedures in it," said Crawford, the bill's sponsor.
The legislation requires election authorities to label tax ballot measures numerically or alphabetically in the order that they are submitted.
It requires any ballot measure to change residential real property taxes to describe the effect in dollars owed per $100,000 of a property's market valuation.
The legislation also contains language related to a freeze on property taxes for seniors that counties and municipalities can implement. Lawmakers passed that freeze in 2023.
Under the bill, seniors would not have to reapply for the credit annually. Instead, it will continue until the taxpayer either moves or dies.
Additionally, the legislation addresses temporary renting property, like for Airbnbs. It clarifies that single-family homes that are leased in whole or in part for fewer than 30 consecutive days must be classified and taxed as residential properties.
Senate Democrats widely supported the legislation.
Sen. Brian Williams, D-University City, thanked Crawford for bringing up the bill.
"We wanted to ensure that property taxes was a priority for the Senate this session, and we were able to work together and get a really good bill across the finish line, and a lot of good things are in it," Williams said.
Not everyone is satisfied with the legislation.
During initial debate on Tuesday and again on Wednesday, Sen. Joe Nicola, R-Grain Valley, spoke against the legislation, saying it does not do enough to provide property tax relief.
"We're going to pass something out of here and say, 'Look what we did. Look at this property tax reform bill, look what we did for you,' and not really have any real effect in the pocketbooks of our citizens when we had a great opportunity to do so," Nicola said.
Nicola offered several amendments to the legislation, but they were all rejected.
The legislation is SB 1410.
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