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Scott County's Nov. 5 ballot question geared toward offsetting senior property tax
BENTON, Mo. — A senior property tax credit is being left to the Scott County voters.
County residents can vote for the initiative at the Nov. 5 election.
Recently, Missouri Senate Bill 190 was authored but had some shortcomings, said Scott County Collector of Revenue Mark Hensley.
“When it was passed, it was really vague and left a lot of room for discretion. Not many people went really aggressive on that one,” said Hensley. “There were a lot of unanswered questions.”
So, the bill was reworked with updated verbiage: “It is more economical for the county. It doesn’t freeze all taxes,” said Hensley.
The original bill created a “homestead tax freeze,” Hensley said, for those meeting certain criteria, including retirement accounts and age.
But not everyone who qualified would have received the benefit, hence one of many issues with the original legislation.
“There was some vagueness to it,” said Hensley.
So, the collectors of revenue put their heads together in order to eliminate the original bill’s ambiguous nature.
In short, finesse was vital.
“The whole association across the state of Missouri went back to the Legislature and had them redo this a little bit,” said Hensley. “If you were eligible for Social Security, you would get it. That is how it originally started.”
One discrepancy, Hensley noted, was specialized retirements accounts.
Hensley said: “If you are a schoolteacher or railroad worker you have your own retirement. So, you are not eligible for Social Security. The way it was originally written, you could be 65, 66 and you would not get it. We had to go back and address a few things.”
The onus, upon legislation, was left to the county and its voters, Hensley said.
“It kind of put the monkey on the county and taxpayers’ backs,” he said. “They passed the bill, but it said it would have to be approved by the county or the taxpayers. We addressed some of those issues with the fix. We addressed the issue of where it included all tax and entities — not just the county. It included everybody who is 62 or older. It included all. … It addressed some of the main issues that were questioned. That is where we are headed now with this bill.”
So, the proverbial ball now resides with the Scott County voters.
How the new bill
works for seniors?
First and foremost, the bill does not alleviate all taxes for seniors.
“Scott County got together and talked to all of the tax and entities and addressed our concerns and listened to their concerns. It affects them as much as the county, per se. The county did an ordinance to get the ball rolling and get it on the ballot,” said Hensley. “We thought that was the best of both worlds. Let the county know that we support our senior citizens.”
Hensley said the best option was to initiate the ordinance and put it on the ballot.
“We decided to let the people decide,” he said. “We felt it was the fairest way to do it. I still feel that. Let it be done by all.”
The Nov. 5 ballot question reads: “Shall the county of Scott exempt senior citizens aged 62 and older from certain increases in property tax liability due on such senior citizens’ primary residence? Yes or No?”
“There isn’t any of this trick language,” said Hensley.
So, how will this work?
Known as the Homestead Exemption Program, and if passed in a little more than one month, 2024 “will be the base year,” said Hensley.
“It is not doing away with all of the senior citizens’ tax,” Hensley continued. “It is going to freeze certain taxes [from increasing]. They will stay the same they are in the base year. They will not go up. That senior citizen is still going to pay taxes; they are going to pay pretty much what they have in previous years.”