Voters in Barry County will have the opportunity on April 8 to allow the county to pursue enacting Senate Bill 190, and six elected county officials are on record as being against the proposal.

Senate Bill 190, which was

BARRY COUNTY VOTE

What: On Senate Bill 190 When: April 8 municipal election Outcome: Approval would allow county to freeze property tax levies for residents over 62

modified by Senate bill 756 in August 2024 authorizes counties to grant property tax credits to eligible senior citizen taxpayers. The taxpayer must be 62 years of age and older, an owner of record or legal or equitable interest in a homestead, and liable for payment of real property taxes on such homestead.

In the county’s draft ordinance, the “eligible credit amount” is listed as: “the difference between an eligible taxpayer’s real property tax liability on such taxpayer’s homestead for a given tax year, minus the real property tax liability on such homestead in the initial credit year.”

If enacted, the bill essentially freezes a qualifying taxpayer’s property tax rate, with a credit being applied in subsequent years. The credit only applies to primary residences (homesteads), and individuals eligible must apply for the credit. The credit also does not apply to school districts or jurisdictions carrying bond liability. Individuals approved will also remain liable for paying property taxes at the initial credit year’s levy.

If new construction or improvements are made to a homestead after being awarded the credit, the tax liability for the initial credit year will be increased to reflect the liability attributable to the new construction or improvements.

The Barry County Commission — comprised of Presiding Commissioner Steve Blankenship, Northern Commissioner Gary Schad and Southern Commissioner Gene Robbins — opted to put the issue to voters in April, saying even though they are against it, the people should have a say.

“We put it to the public because we want them to have a say, and if they vote for it, we can say it was their choice,” Robbins said.

“It’s not our job to dictate,” Schad said. “It should be up to the people if they want to implement this process available to them.”

“As officeholders, we don’t care one way or the other if it’s passed or not — we will do our jobs regardless,” said Joyce Ennis, Barry County clerk.

Officials said between their offices, they receive 1-5 calls per day asking about SB 190 and SB 756 and its possible implementation. The measure on the April 8 ballot would allow the County to pass an ordinance enacting the credit.

Stone, Greene, Christian and Webster counties have all enacted the credit, and Smith said assessors from Green and Christian counties described the management of the credit as an “absolute nightmare.”

Ennis said should voters approve the measure in April, once enacted, over time it may lower the income for entities like fire districts, road districts and ambulance districts.

“But, we really have no idea the impact because people will have to apply,” Smith said.

Ennis added losses in property tax revenue could lead to increases elsewhere that cancel out any savings.

“Say a local senior center loses $5,000 in revenue,” she said. “They may have to raise costs of services, like meals, which could ultimately lead to residents spending more money than they will save.”

Skyler Bowman, Barry County collector, said her office pulled a random property tax bill among many they knew would qualify for the credit. She said excluding the exempted school levy, that taxpayer would have saved about $20 this year compared to last year’s levies.

A concern officials expressed was the added cost to the county to administer the credit, noting Barry County’s general revenue fund is supported entirely by sales tax. Therefore, a property tax credit would have no impact on county revenue but would demand additional expenses.

“We don’t know what the cost of the software [to administer the credit] will be,” Robbins said. “We’re estimating $20,000 to $30,000, but we’ve been told it could be as much as $70,000. We also don’t know exactly how much people will save and how that will affect other agencies.”

“And, even if it passes, it can still change later because of the unknowns and us working with the state,” Schad said. “There’s no structure, and the state left it up to counties to build the system.”

“This is what we know today,” Robbins added.

The county is already putting money into the proposal via the election, which costs about $10,000 to put on the April ballot.

“And, if it passes, we’ll have to do a mailing to inform property owners of the change,” Ennis said. “That will cost an estimated $6,000 to $10,000.”

Smith said there are 27,756 total real estate parcels in the county, and the mailing would have to go to all parcels because credit eligibility is not tracked. The credit also applies only to primary residences, meaning those who own property that operates as short- or long-term rentals would not qualify.

“We’re not afraid to do the work, but there’s a lot of uncertainty,” Bowman said. “We can’t actually gauge the impact.”

All six elected officials speaking on the subject — Blankenship, Schad, Robbins, Bowman, Smith and Ennis — said they intend to vote against the ballot measure due to the uncertainty and possible negative impact to already struggling entities in the county that rely on property taxes.

“There are concerns about some fire districts,” Ennis said.

“Road districts are also already just scraping by,” Robbins said.

Bowman also presented the argument those exempt from property taxes would be able to vote on future levy increases they would not have to pay.

If the measure does pass, Bowman said implementation could take 4-6 weeks, and credits could be authorized in the next tax season.

Bowman said anyone looking to see what they would save can compare the 2024 bill to 2023 and exclude the school district.

“The levy would freeze, but the valuation would not,” she said.

More information about SB 190 can be found at https://tinyurl.com/ e2j3s2tx.