Ala Elevi and Kayla Shepard
2 hours ago
ST. Lewis County, Missouri – Efforts to help seniors with fixed incomes stay in their own homes through a program that freezes property taxes.
The bill not only comes from raising real estate taxes, but also from a bill Missouri Governor Mike Parson signed into law last week.
Senate Bill 190 creates a program to freeze real estate taxes on people of Social Security benefit age. Members of the Plenary Committee had the opportunity to delve into Bill 114 on Tuesday afternoon. City councilors have put the bill on hold and said they want to do more research and find more sustainable solutions.
Bill 114 allows seniors in St. Louis County to take advantage of this benefit and stay home. But city councilor Mark Harder, who introduced the bill, said no formal decision had been made yet.
“The next step is tonight’s meeting. And we have not yet decided whether to go ahead with this bill for a final vote or put it on hold. That decision has not been made at this time,” Harder said. .
St. Louis County must opt-in to this program.
“The Department of Health and Senior Services collects these statistics, and according to its most recent report, about 30 percent of Missouri seniors are ‘housing-intensive,'” says UMSL Financial Planning. Program director Dr. Thomas Eisel said. “And what that means is that they’re spending what appears to be an excessive amount of their income on housing alone.”
“In our opinion, the way this bill is written is not a question of when or how St. Louis County will implement this measure,” said Dennis Ganar, director of Missouri Tax Relief Now. said.
If Measure 114 is passed, St. Louis County will be the first county in the state to participate in the program. A freeze on property taxes for the elderly will go into effect next year.
