HB 2079 -- Property Taxation

Sponsor:  Stream

This bill changes the laws regarding property taxation by
requiring tax rate rollbacks by all political subdivisions in
assessment years, changing the way voter-approved tax increases
are applied to assessed values, changing the time line for
assessment and appeal of property taxes, and increasing the
eligibility and amount of the property tax credit.  In its main
provisions, the bill:

(1)  Increases the maximum property tax credit from $750 to
$1,100 and extends the maximum and minimum base amounts for
calendar year 2008 to all subsequent years;

(2)  Requires voter-approved property tax rate increases to be
applied to a political subdivision's most recent total assessed
valuation, as certified by the State Tax Commission on or before
the date of the election.  Every political subdivision in a
reassessment year must roll back its prior year's tax rate
regardless of whether the political subdivision was levying the
tax at its tax rate ceiling.  A political subdivision can modify
its tax rate, not to exceed its maximum authorized voter-approved
levy, through the adoption of an ordinance, resolution, or policy
statement in a non-reassessment year;

(3)  Requires assessors for the City of St. Louis and all charter
counties to notify taxpayers by May 31 of real property
assessment increases and the county to provide an estimated tax
liability for the property beginning January 1, 2009;

(4)  Requires assessors for noncharter counties to notify
taxpayers by May 31 of real property assessment increases and the
county to provide an estimated tax liability for the property
beginning January 1, 2011;

(5)  Requires assessors to provide the city or county clerks with
assessment books by March 1 of each year to assist with
determining the estimated tax liability on properties with
increased assessed valuations.  The clerks must make abstracts of
the assessment books showing the aggregate amount of different
types of property and the valuation of each type for each
political subdivision levying taxes on property;

(6)  Requires governing bodies of political subdivisions to
informally project non-binding tax rate levies from the
information provided in the abstracts and provide the projected
levies to the clerk by April 15 of each year;

(7)  Requires the county collector to calculate the projected tax
liability for each property for which the assessor intends to
provide a notice of increased assessed valuation by April 13 by
utilizing the projected tax levies;

(8)  Reduces a political subdivision's tax levy by 20% for the
tax year if it fails to provide projected tax levies by April 15
unless the failure is a direct result of a delinquency in
providing, or failure to provide, the required information by
either the clerk or the assessor;

(9)  Extends the requirement that certain counties and the City
of St. Louis must deduct either 1/8 of 1% or 1/4 of 1% of all ad
valorem property tax collections and deposit the amount into the
county's assessment fund from December 31, 2009, to December 31,
2015.  If the commission withholds state assessment reimbursement
funds from a county for three consecutive quarters, the extra 1/8
of 1% or 1/4 of 1% collection revenues in the county assessment
fund will be forfeited and returned by the county to the
political subdivisions within the county;

(10)  Changes the date that the St. Louis County Board of
Equalization convenes from the first Monday in June to the second
Monday in May;

(11)  Requires the circuit court clerk to send the county
collector a notice when a taxpayer timely files an appeal seeking
exemption of a final decision of the local board of equalization.
The notice must contain the taxpayer's name, the case number
assigned by the court, and the parcel or locator number of the
property being appealed.  The notice to the collector must state
that the taxes in dispute are to be impounded;

(12)  Requires the commission to send the county collector a
notice of appeal when a taxpayer timely files an appeal.  The
notice must contain the taxpayer's name, the appeal number
assigned by the commission, the assessed value provided to the
local board of equalization, and the assessed value proposed by
the taxpayer if the values are available to the commission when
the appeal is filed.  The notice must also specifically state
that the taxes in dispute are to be impounded; and if the notice
is filed in an odd-numbered year, it will serve as notice to the
collector to impound taxes for the following even-numbered year
if no decision has been rendered in the appeal;

(13)  Relieves a taxpayer from the requirement of filing a
statement of protest if the taxpayer filed an appeal from a local
board of equalization to the commission or circuit court;

(14)  Changes several other provisions of law regarding the
notification of appeal of assessment and the impounding,
investment, and refund of protested tax payments; and

(15)  Repeals the requirement that the commission notify each
school district of the equivalent sales ratio for the previous
year which was adopted to determine the equalized assessed
valuation of the property and the equalized operating levy of the
school district for distributions under the old school foundation
formula.

Missouri House of Representatives
94th General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session
Last Updated October 15, 2008 at 3:11 pm