I attended the August 1, 2023 Camden County Commission meeting at 10:00 a.m.
All commissioners were present. There were also two Miller County commissioners present in the audience so this was a commissioner-heavy event.
The first agenda item was 2022 CART Funds – Horseshoe Bend.
The County Treasurer, Kendra Hicks, presented this agenda item to the Commission. The 2022 CART fund disbursement for the Horseshoe Bend Special Road District was for $367,975.04. Jerry Jackson, the President of the Road District’s Board, was in the audience. He confirmed that the amount was correct.
This CART Fund disbursement was approved unanimously.
The second agenda item was In God We Trust.
Presiding Commissioner Skelton said he recently attended a National Association of Counties conference and while there, he met some people from a group called “In God We Trust USA.” After speaking to them, Skelton had the idea that it might be nice to have a mural painted on the wall behind the Commission’s seats in the meeting room. The mural would have “In God We Trust” as its primary theme.
Commissioner Williams stated that the phrase is our country’s national motto and many court decisions have ruled that it can be used by governments. Commissioner Gohagan also expressed his approval of the idea.
There was feedback from the audience and the crowd seemed to be generally pro-mural.
The Commission unanimously approved putting out a Request for artistic concepts and designs that include In God We Trust. Once various proposals and designs are submitted, the Commission will make an effort to determine the cost of the mural.
The final agenda item was SB190.
Oh, SB190.
Never have so few letters annoyed and confused so many people.
The intent of this bill was that Missouri senior citizens would no longer face increases on the real estate property tax owed on their primary residence. It was supposed to protect seniors from being forced out of their homes by escalating real estate values.
Some of the problems come from the way the bill was written. “Eligible taxpayer” is defined as a Missouri resident who is eligible for Social Security benefits, lives in a primary residence (“homestead”), and is liable for the payment of real property taxes on that property.
Does this include people who qualify for Social Security Disability? Does it apply to senior citizens who didn’t qualify for Social Security because they were government or railroad employees?
Sheesh, if they wanted to pass it to help senior citizens, why didn’t they just say: “You qualify if you’re over 62?”
It’s even more confusing because the legislature pawned the responsibility for enacting these tax credit measures off onto the counties. The counties can enact the provisions of the bill either by voting it in with an ordinance or passing it as a county ballot referendum. Or the third option: Not enacting it at all. So one county can freeze property tax for senior citizens while the county next door doesn’t freeze it.
Presiding Commissioner Skelton expressed interest in passing an ordinance to enact SB190. He preferred an ordinance to passing the law through a ballot measure. According to Skelton, SB190 would freeze the assessed property value for people who are eligible for social security.
County Attorney Jeff Green was most concerned about how the implementation of the tax credit system would work. The use of SB190 will vary from county to county. He was fairly certain that there will be lawsuits based on this law because it will impact groups that receive property tax revenue.
Commissioner Skelton questioned when the property value freeze would be enacted? There was some consensus that it made the most sense to freeze the property values as of August 28, 2023 (the date the bill becomes effective).
Green and Commissioner Gohagan had questions about the “eligible taxpayer” definition used by the bill. Would senior citizens who aren’t eligible for Social Security be considered eligible? Nobody knew for sure.
Gohagan mentioned that approximately 11,000 Camden County residents could possibly be eligible for property tax relief from SB190.
The biggest confusion seemed to be about which elected officials would be responsible for managing the new rules and how the county would track it? It sounded like it would probably be the Assessor taking the lead after the Collector explained that her office can’t change the tax bills. (But then who would issue the tax credits?)
Would taxpayers have to apply every year for the tax credit? How would counties verify that the eligible taxpayer is claiming only one primary residence for tax relief? There were many questions that were asked and hopefully we’ll have some answers in the next month or so.
County Attorney Green said he would meet with the relevant officials who would be affected by the new changes and they would come up with a plan.
The Camden County Commission voted to table this matter until September 7, 2023. This would give time for County Attorney Green to meet with the elected officials and maybe even prepare a draft of a possible ordinance.
And that was that.
It looks like the Camden County Commission is going to pass this property tax relief for senior citizens as an ordinance. That might be the best idea because it’s possible that the ordinance could then be amended by the Commission if the Missouri legislature makes any changes or clarifications to the law.
The real question is what impact this law will have on those taxing entities (Roads, Schools, Libraries, Fire Protection Districts) that rely on property tax for their main revenue stream? It might not be felt now, but in a decade, what effect will freezing the property tax base of a quarter of the county’s population have on the county’s infrastructure?
Among the Dogwoods 