Tax relief for seniors

The Washington Missourian

The Missouri General Assembly has passed what lawmakers call a "landmark" tax relief bill that will provide senior citizens and the disabled some relief from rapidly rising property taxes caused chiefly by reassessment every two years.

It's called the Homestead Preservation Act which will allow people age 65 years and older and disabled persons to obtain a tax credit for increases which exceed 5 percent in any year.

Under statewide reassessment that is mandated by state law, a home's value is supposed to be recalculated every two years, and because reassessment is not intended to create an overall increase in taxes, levies are supposed to be rolled back. ... But it hasn't worked because most property owners have been seeing increased taxes every two years. ...

... Eligible homeowners may apply for the homestead exemption credit by completing an application through the county assessor's office. Applications will be accepted from April 1 through Sept. 13 of any tax year.

When tax bills go out in October or November, those seniors or disabled persons eligible for a homestead credit will find it listed on the bill as applied against their current tax liability. ...

The bill will become law Aug. 28, 2004, if signed by the governor.

... We view this as a start toward providing tax relief for seniors. It is recognition that reassessment and its broken rollback provision was in effect a tax increase without a vote of the people. We applaud the lawmakers for recognizing this injustice. But don't stop with this law. More relief is needed.