SECOND REGULAR SESSION
95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVES GATSCHENBERGER (Sponsor), NIEVES, BIERMANN, RUESTMAN, DUSENBERG, DOUGHERTY, McGHEE, WELLS AND SATER (Co-sponsors).
4387L.01I D. ADAM CRUMBLISS, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
To amend chapter 137, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to homestead property tax exemptions for senior citizens.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Chapter 137, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto one new section, to be known as section 137.108, to read as follows:
137.108. 1. As used in this section, the following terms mean:
(1) "Exemption", the reduction in the property tax assessed on a resident's homestead as allowed under this section;
(2) "Homestead", the dwelling in this state that is owned by the resident as a primary residence, and the land surrounding it as is reasonably necessary for use of the dwelling as a home, not to exceed five acres. A "homestead" may consist of part of a multidwelling or multipurpose building and part of the land upon which it is built, and may include a mobile home;
(2) "Resident", any individual owner of a homestead, or such person's spouse, who:
(a) Is sixty-five years of age or older as of January first of the calendar year for which the exemption allowed in this section is claimed;
(b) Occupied the homestead for the entire year for which the exemption allowed in this section is claimed;
(c) Has a total household income amount that does not exceed the amount calculated and allowed under this section;
(3) "Total household income amount", the combined total of the adjusted gross income of each person residing in the homestead, not to exceed fifty thousand dollars or the total household income amount as increased annually under this section.
2. For all tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2011, each eligible resident may claim a homestead exemption as allowed under this section. The amount of the exemption shall be calculated by reducing the amount of property tax assessed on the resident's homestead by two and one-half percent for each year after the person becomes an eligible resident. The amount of the exemption shall continue to increase by two and one-half percent each year until the resident reaches eighty years of age, so that each resident who is eighty years of age or older shall be liable for no more than sixty percent of the amount of the property tax assessed on such resident's homestead.
3. Any eligible resident may claim the exemption allowed under this section by completing and submitting an application provided by the resident's local assessor's office no later than May first of each year for the resident to be eligible for the exemption in the year for which the application is submitted. The application shall provide space for the resident to show eligibility under this section and to request the exemption. The resident shall attest under penalty of perjury that the information included in the application is true to the best of the resident's knowledge and belief. Upon verification of the application, the assessor shall adjust the assessment of the resident's homestead as required under this section.
4. No resident claiming either the property tax credit allowed under sections 135.010 to 135.035 or the homestead exemption allowed under section 137.106 shall be eligible for the exemption allowed under this section.
5. For purposes of this section, the total household income amount shall be increased on the first day of January each year by multiplying fifty thousand dollars by the cumulative percentage increases over the previous year in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers as prepared by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, or its successor index, for all years since January 1, 2011, and rounded to the nearest one hundred-dollar amount.
6. All revenue losses of any political subdivision resulting from the exemption contained in this section shall be reimbursed to those political subdivisions by the state of Missouri through appropriations. Data substantiating such revenue losses shall be provided to the state auditor in such form as shall be prescribed by the state auditor by rule. The required data shall be submitted for each political subdivision levying a property tax and shall be submitted by either the county or the individual taxing authority as requested by the state auditor. Calculation or verification of the revenue loss shall be determined by the state auditor subsequent to the annual property tax rate review completed under section 137.073. All data and documents substantiating the revenue loss for each political subdivision shall be copied to each county clerk respectively, and shall be retained and made available for public inspection by the county for a minimum of three years.
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