Cape Girardeau County commissioners to consider senior property tax freeze in 2025

The Cape Girardeau County commissioners said they would discuss a property tax credit for senior citizens sometime in the new year.

Gov. Mike Parson signed Missouri Senate Bill 190 into law in July 2023. The legislation authorizes Missouri counties to grant property tax credits to senior citizens, provided the counties have adopted ordinances authorizing such credits.

Senate Bill 756, signed by Parson in July 2024, amended the earlier bill so that taxpayers aged 62 or older who receive retirement income from pensions, not just those eligible for Social Security retirement benefits, may take advantage of the property tax credit. It took effect Aug. 28.

The credits are equal to the difference between the real property tax liabilities on a homestead in any given year minus the real property tax liability on the homestead in the eligible taxpayer’s initial credit year. Effectively, they act as a property tax freeze.

Cape Girardeau County’s Presiding Commissioner Clint Tracy said the commissioners would schedule an agenda item addressing whether to authorize a property tax freeze ordinance in early 2025. He said they would not do it earlier since eligible taxpayers would not get the benefit of the tax freeze until they pay property taxes in 2025.

Property tax credits authorized by a county pursuant to the new laws are considered tax revenue by the county for the purpose of calculating property tax levies. Many of the state’s larger counties, population-wise, have crafted plans to implement the tax credits, each with their own application guidelines and deadlines. Cape Girardeau County is around the 14th most populous of Missouri’s 114 counties and one independent city.