SCS HCS HB 1316 -- PROPERTY TAXES AND ASSESSMENTS

This bill changes the laws regarding the collection of property
taxes and the assessment of property.  In its main provisions,
the bill:

(1)  Changes the laws regarding the sale of real property for the
collection of delinquent taxes.  A county collector is required
to send up to three notices to the publicly recorded owner of
record of the real property prior to the publishing of a tax sale
with the first notice being by first class mail.  A collector of
revenue or other collection authority may refuse to accept a
delinquent tax payment submitted without a copy of the tax
statement.  If the county collector determines that an adequate
legal description of tax sale property cannot be obtained from
documents available through the recorder of deeds, the collector
may commission a professional land surveyor to prepare an
adequate legal description of the property.  The certificate of
purchase will be conveyed to an agent if the purchaser is a
nonresident, and the agent must convey the property to the
nonresident.  The highest bid at a sale on the third successive
year must be at least equal to the sum of the delinquent taxes,
interest, penalties, and costs as it is required when it was
initially offered and at the second successive year it was
offered.  After the third offering, the collector's deed or
trustee's deed will have priority over all other liens or
encumbrances on the property sold except for real property taxes.
Within 120 days prior to receiving a collector's deed, a tax sale
purchaser must obtain a title search report from a licensed
attorney or title company detailing the ownership and
encumbrances on the property (Sections 52.230, 139.040, 140.110,
140.150, 140.170, 140.190, 140.230, 140.250, 140.260, 140.290,
140.310, 140.340, 140.405, and 140.420, RSMo);

(2)  Specifies that in counties adopting a charter form of
government after January 1, 2008, the county collector will
continue to collect a 7% fee for the collection of delinquent and
back taxes if provided for by the charter and requires these
counties to establish a tax maintenance fund.  Currently, these
provisions only apply to Jefferson County (Sections 52.290 and
52.312);

(3)  Authorizes first classification counties without a charter
form of government and second classification counties to collect
and disburse property taxes using electronic records (Sections
52.361, 52.370, and 55.190);

(4)  Specifies that the county collector-treasurer will assume
all duties, compensation, fee schedules, and requirements of the
collector-treasurer if a county of the third or fourth
classification abolishes its township form of government (Section
54.010);

(5)  Requires county auditors in first classification counties
without a charter form of government and auditors in second
classification counties to have access to all records,
collections, and settlements for county-issued licenses and to
receive a monthly listing of the licenses issued with the
specified related information from each county office issuing the
licenses.  Currently, these county auditors are required to
countersign all county-issued licenses and keep a record of them
(Section 55.140);

(6)  Changes the deadline from September 1 to October 1 for
charter counties and the City of St. Louis to set ad valorem
property tax rates (Sections 67.100 and 134.243);

(7)  Increases the monthly interest rate charged from 1% to 2%,
increases the maximum annual interest rate from 10% to 18%, and
repeals the prime rate limitation on the interest rate for
delinquent property taxes in the City of St. Louis (Sections
92.715, 140.100, and 141.830);

(8)  Extends the effective date for the projected tax liability
notice requirements for assessors in counties without a charter
form of government and Jefferson County from January 1, 2011, to
January 1 of the year following receipt of the necessary software
from the State Tax Commission for the implementation of the
requirement and requires all assessors in these counties and
Jefferson County to provide property owners additional
information with the notice of increased assessed valuation.  The
notice must include the previous assessed value and any increase,
a statement indicating that the change in assessed value may
impact the record owner's tax liability, and information
regarding the processes and deadlines for appealing
determinations of the assessed valuation.  Beginning January 1,
2011, the assessor in St. Louis County must provide taxpayers
with a notice that information regarding the assessment method
and computation of the value for real property is available on
the assessor's web site, the web site address, and the assessor's
contact information so taxpayers without Internet access can
request and received the information (Sections 137.180 and
137.355);

(9)  Authorizes each party to an appeal that is scheduled to be
heard before the State Tax Commission to request one change of
the assigned hearing officer by filing a written application to
disqualify the officer within 30 days of the assignment (Section
138.431);

(10)  Requires county collectors in first and second
classification counties to file with the county clerk and auditor
by the fifteenth day of each month a detailed statement, verified
by affidavit, of all taxes and license fees collected during the
preceding month and to disburse those funds, less commissions, to
the appropriate taxing entities and the Director of the
Department of Revenue.  Taxing authorities are required to
request notification of current taxes paid under protest by
February 1, and county collectors must provide the information by
March 1 (Sections 139.031, 139.140, 139.150, 139.210, 139.220,
140.050, 140.070, 140.080, 140.160, and 165.071);

(11)  Changes the laws regarding taxes and penalties for
properties subject to certain actions as abandoned property in
Jackson County (Section 141.535);

(12)  Authorizes the establishment of the Kansas City Zoological
District.  The voters of the counties of Cass, Clay, Jackson, and
Platte may choose to have their county be a part of the district.
Each member county may impose, upon voter approval, a sales tax
of up to 0.25% for the financial support of zoological activities
within the district (Sections 184.500 - 184.512); and

(13)  Specifies that the provisions of Section 262.802 regarding
the abeyance of water and sewer district assessments until
certain farmland property is connected to the system will not
apply to any drainage or levee district established under state
law (Section 246.310).

Missouri House of Representatives
95th General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session
Last Updated September 14, 2010 at 3:10 pm