A new law that took effect at the end of August last year in Missouri aims to provide tax relief for senior citizens. The simplest part of the law is that from 2024 onward, social security recipients won’t have to pay any income tax on their benefits. The bill further offers Missouri counties a way to halt changes to seniors’ property assessment to keep their tax responsibility consistent. This is particularly important for a group that often has a fixed income.
Missourians won’t automatically be able to take advantage of the change, but will need their county to opt-in and implement the program. Several counties took the time to specifically mention that they wouldn’t be implementing SB 190, like Ozark County, where commissioners indicated that the bill was too vague and could potentially expose the county to lawsuits. Howard County commissioners decided that the decision wasn’t theirs to make, offering that voters should weigh in on the law.
Some counties have gone full steam ahead. St. Charles County opted into the law despite the expectation that its implementation will lead to a lawsuit. Greene County has created a short, two-page application that they’ve made available online. It’s a simple form outside of some necessary documentation and can even be filled out in a web browser to make the process easier.
Because of the opt-in nature of the law, and because so many counties have been voicing concerns, the state’s Senate Economic Development and Tax Policy Committee listened to testimony last month about clarifying the law to increase adoption and avoid confusion.
The biggest change is that rather than just social security recipients, the bill would now apply to anyone 62 years of age or older. Some senators have expressed concern that this means that a billionaire will be eligible for the same relief as others, but the plan is to move forward with the expanded eligibility regardless. That’s partly because expanded eligibility allows public-sector employees like teachers and firefighters to qualify as well.
Other concerns brought up during the discussion were that reducing tax revenue in the future could unintentionally harm those the law aims to help by hurting public services. Some county representatives asked for reporting on the impact of implementing the law, but given how new it is, there won’t be any impact data until the next reassessment cycle. On top of that, the Tax Policy Committee believes there are only around a dozen counties implementing SB 190 thus far. With 114 counties in the state, it may be a while before observers are able to get a true understanding of the result for both seniors and the counties where they live.
So while we may not have an immediate understanding of the success of the program, it’s encouraging that counties are taking approaches that best fit their needs and the needs of their constituents.
Whatever approach Missouri counties decide to go with, they’ll need to make sure that the personal information on these application forms is protected. For county records that need to be made available online or ones with a risk of inappropriate access, government agencies turn to Extract’s ID Shield to redact identifying information. Our software converts your documents to machine-readable text and then finds information within them like a human would, using experience, clues, and a flexible ruleset.
If you’d like to learn more about how you can protect the sensitive information within your documents, please reach out, and we’d be happy to show you how the software works.
About the Author: Chris Mack
Chris is a Marketing Manager at Extract with experience in product development, data analysis, and both traditional and digital marketing. Chris received his bachelor’s degree in English from Bucknell University and has an MBA from the University of Notre Dame. A passionate marketer, Chris strives to make complex ideas more accessible to those around him in a compelling way.