Missouri Property Taxes: Current Law & Reform
Missouri homeowners have seen property tax bills rise sharply despite laws intended to limit tax increases.
The problem is partly structural: Missouri’s tax-rate limits restrict revenue growth for local governments, but they don’t always protect individual homeowners from rising bills.
Senate Bill 3 (2025) allowed some counties to vote for relief, but broader reform stalled in 2026 when the House and Senate failed to agree on how to calculate property taxes.
How Missouri property taxes work
Property taxes depend on assessed value and local tax rates.
County assessors determine real estate values, usually reassessing properties in odd-numbered years. Missouri taxes different property classes at different percentages of their value:
- Residential: 19%
- Agricultural: 12%
- Commercial: 32%
For example, a home valued at $250,000 has an assessed value of $47,500, 19% of the total.
Counties, cities, school districts, and other local governments levy taxes on assessed value. Rates are expressed in dollars per $100 of assessed value.
At a combined rate of $6 per $100, that homeowner would owe $2,850 annually, before credits.
Why property taxes keep rising
Missouri’s Hancock Amendment limits certain tax increases and requires local governments to reduce tax rates when assessments rise beyond permitted levels. These reductions are called rollbacks.
But a rollback doesn’t guarantee a lower bill.
If our $250,000 home increased in value to $300,000, its assessed value would rise from $47,500 to $57,000.
Even if the combined tax rate falls from $6 to $5.50, the annual bill increases from $2,850 to $3,135.
In this case, the rate went down, but the taxpayer’s bill still went up.
Rollbacks generally restrict revenue growth for an entire taxing district, not increases on each property.
Residential assessments have grown faster than other property classes, shifting a larger share of the tax burden toward homeowners.
What protections already exist?
Tax-rate rollbacks
The Hancock Amendment and Section 137.073 restrict certain increases in local property tax revenue and require adjustments to tax rates. As demonstrated above, lower rates can still produce higher bills if assessments rise.
Assessment inspections and appeals
Under Section 137.115, assessors generally must physically inspect residential properties before raising their assessed values by more than 15% since the last assessment, excluding increases attributable to new construction or improvements.
Property owners may also challenge valuations through county boards of equalization and, when eligible, the Missouri State Tax Commission.
Senior property tax credits
Missouri permits counties to provide property tax credits to qualifying homeowners aged 62 and older. Section 137.1050 allows counties to offset certain increases in senior homeowners’ property tax bills.
Counties have to authorize the program, and eligibility requirements apply.
County property tax caps and freezes
Senate Bill 3 (2025) established a process for 97 counties to ask voters whether to limit increases in property taxes on qualifying primary residences.
The law divided those counties into two categories:
- Five-percent counties: Increases are generally limited to 5% annually or inflation, whichever is greater.
- Zero-percent counties: Tax liability is generally frozen at the statutory baseline.
The credits include exceptions, including certain voter-approved tax increases and property improvements.
In April 2026, voters approved these measures in 61 counties: 47 adopted the growth cap and 14 adopted the freeze. Twelve counties rejected the measures, while 23 had not held the required elections.
The protections apply only where authorized and subject to statutory requirements. A Cole County judge rejected a constitutional challenge to the law in October 2026.
What happened to property tax reform in 2026?
Property tax reform was a major priority for Missouri lawmakers in 2026. Both chambers advanced legislation to change how tax rates are calculated for different property classes.
The goal was to prevent residential assessments from shifting more of the property tax burden onto homeowners. The central disagreement concerned how taxing districts could adjust rates across property classes.
The House proposal
Rep. Tim Taylor, chairman of the House Special Interim Committee on Property Tax Reform, sponsored HB 2780.
The bill would have required separate tax-rate calculations for residential, agricultural and commercial real estate, with personal property handled in the aggregate. This approach is called siloing.
Under siloing, tax-rate rollbacks respond to assessment changes within individual property classes instead of relying primarily on a combined tax base.
Missouri already allows separate rates in some circumstances, including their use in St. Louis County. The House proposal would have expanded this approach statewide and changed the rules governing reconciliation between property classes.
HB 2780 passed the House in March but stalled in the Senate.
The Senate proposal
The Senate advanced SB 1410/853, a package sponsored in its combined form by Sen. Sandy Crawford.
It also addressed separate tax-rate calculations, along with assessment procedures, senior credits and ballot transparency. But the Senate’s approach differed from the House version.
One disagreement involved whether taxing districts could increase rates on some property classes to replace revenue lost through rollbacks on others. Taylor argued that this would shift tax burdens rather than deliver the intended relief.
He also objected to provisions establishing a state fund to assist school districts with construction expenses.
SB 1410/853 passed the Senate on April 30 but stalled in the House. SB 1410/853 legislative record.
The final negotiations
SB 1066/1088 became another vehicle for property tax changes late in the session. The House-amended version included separate property-class tax-rate calculations, changes to revenue reconciliation and measures addressing tax ballot language.
The Senate refused to concur in the House amendments, and the bill went to conference. Lawmakers failed to reach an agreement before the session ended on May 15.
Why reform failed
Both chambers supported changes to Missouri’s property tax system. They disagreed over how those changes would affect taxpayers and local governments.
The principal dispute concerned whether tax reductions for one property class could be offset by higher rates on another. Concerns about school funding and local government revenue further complicated negotiations.
The result was a failed effort at broader reform, despite substantial work by both chambers.
What’s next for property tax reform?
Lawmakers have several options for 2027.
- Separate property-class rates: Broader siloing could make rollbacks more responsive to residential assessment growth. Its effect would depend on whether revenue can be shifted between classes.
- Assessment limits: Caps on taxable-value increases could make bills more predictable, although they could also create differences between otherwise similar properties.
- Expanded homeowner relief: Lawmakers could expand existing credits or change eligibility and administrative requirements.
- Ballot transparency: Clearer descriptions of proposed tax increases could help voters understand their costs before approving them.
The question for 2027 is whether lawmakers can agree on reforms that provide lasting relief without simply shifting costs to other taxpayers.
Frequently asked questions
Not statewide. Some counties adopted credits limiting increases on qualifying primary residences to 5% or inflation, whichever is greater. Other counties adopted freezes. Rules and exceptions vary.
Yes. The 15% threshold generally triggers a physical inspection requirement, not a cap.
Your assessed value may have risen enough to outweigh the lower rate.
Some counties offer qualifying homeowners aged 62 and older homestead credits. Other counties have broader residential property tax caps or freezes. Neither protection applies automatically statewide.
Voters approved county-level relief authorized by 2025 legislation. The General Assembly did not enact the broader statewide reforms considered during its 2026 regular session.
Liberty Alliance USA tracks Missouri property tax legislation and proposals affecting taxpayers.