ST. LOUIS 鈥 51黑料 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 51黑料 from limiting 鈥渢he definition or scope鈥 of who would qualify for the tax break, lawmakers did not prohibit putting a cap on qualifying home values.
鈥淭hey did not put restrictions on homestead eligibility,鈥 Kerrigan said. He said that鈥檚 not 鈥渁n area that the state statute touched.鈥
The city鈥檚 position diverges from 51黑料 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鈥檚 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.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e limiting it based on the value of someone鈥檚 home, you are thereby restricting the class of eligible taxpayers鈥 and thus violating the state law, Keathley said Monday.
51黑料 and the two state lawmakers also are at odds over the city鈥檚 plan to continue freezing only the amount seniors owe on the city government鈥檚 portion of their property tax bills 鈥 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 51黑料 from limiting the scope of the eligible tax credit.
The local tax freezes, originally authorized by the Legislature in 2023, don鈥檛 provide homeowners much relief if the large portions of tax bills going to school districts aren鈥檛 affected, said Luetkemeyer, of the Kansas City area.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e trying to thwart and undermine the law, and that鈥檚 really unfortunate,鈥 he said of 51黑料 officials.聽
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鈥檛 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鈥檚 value through major improvements.
Last week, the 51黑料 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鈥檚 part of the property tax bill.
鈥淭he city needs every dollar it can get so it can continue to provide city services,鈥 said the bill鈥檚 sponsor, Alderman Michael Browning of the Forest Park Southeast area.
The tax break shouldn鈥檛 go to people who don鈥檛 need it, he said.
The 51黑料 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鈥檚 freeze applies to all parts of qualifying seniors鈥 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, 鈥渢he general understanding we had鈥 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 鈥渁nd to act accordingly.鈥
鈥淎t the end of the day, it was pretty vague,鈥 Hobbs said of the law鈥檚 wording.
Dennis Ganahl, with MO Tax Relief Now 鈥 a group that has advocated for the senior tax freezes 鈥 said he expects that 鈥渁 senior that鈥檚 being hurt by this鈥 would go to court to challenge the city鈥檚 position.
Moreover, he said his group would 鈥渃ertainly look to find an attorney鈥 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鈥檚 specifically allowed by state law, he pointed out, as tax freeze ordinances can be enacted by county governing bodies or via petition campaigns.
51黑料 began taking applications for the senior tax break in March. 51黑料 County expects to begin accepting requests Oct. 1.
View life in 51黑料 through the Post-Dispatch photographers' lenses. Edited by Jenna Jones.
