Missouri House passes natural disaster bills

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri House moved Friday to approve many of the noneconomic development issues on the agenda for the special legislative session that started last week.

House members dispatched bills dealing with property taxes for businesses destroyed by natural disasters, local control of the St. Louis Police Department, amnesty from interest and penalties for delinquent taxpayers and pushing back the presidential primary until March.

The House also endorsed legislation that directs $150 million from the state's rainy day fund to help pay for disaster relief. Gov. Jay Nixon has pledged $150 million for disaster response and has made budget cuts to help cover the expense. The governor's office has said officials do not yet know the full cost and it is too soon to consider using the reserve fund.

House Budget Committee chairman Ryan Silvey, R-Kansas City, said using the rainy day fund to pay for disaster recovery makes sense and urged Nixon to add it to the special session. Otherwise, Silvey said tapping the reserve fund would be unconstitutional.

One bill approved Friday would allow damaged buildings and structures on commercial property to be removed from tax rolls after natural disasters until they can be used again. Local officials would need to choose to participate in the program, and businesses would have to apply for the tax relief.

It is modeled after an existing law that lets Missouri counties adopt ordinances that permit residential structures to be removed from tax rolls when made uninhabitable by natural disasters and new homes to be added when they are occupied in the middle of the year.

Supporters say the property tax changes for commercial property could help numerous businesses that have been hit hard this year. The legislation was approved without a dissenting vote.

"This is an attempt to assist our businesses in rebuilding," said sponsoring Rep. Bill White, R-Joplin. "This is true economic stimulus."

Another portion of the property tax legislation is intended to help communities recover after natural disasters by allowing some of the tax revenue collected in designated redevelopment areas to be used for the rebuilding.

Nixon added the property tax break to the agenda for the special session earlier last week. Under the Missouri Constitution, the governor determines what topics the legislature can discuss when lawmakers are called into special sessions that can continue for up to 60 days.