Missouri’s property tax overhaul bill may inadvertently move municipal elections to November

A bill to overhaul how property taxes are levied in Missouri includes provisions that could move all local elections from April to November (Getty Images).

A Property tax reform Moving through the Missouri House includes provisions that would potentially push all elections into August and November. The sponsor of the bill, however, said this is not his intention and will make any necessary changes to prevent it.

The measurement It would require taxing districts to set separate rates for each type of property and require all property tax elections to be on the August or November ballot. But critics warn that the language changing the election date is more broad than necessary.

“It’s just rife with drafting errors,” Boone County Clerk Brianna Lennon said. “It worries me.”

under Current LawPartisan primaries and general elections are held in August and November in even numbered years. Each year the first Tuesday after the first Monday in April is set aside as general municipal election day, when often non-partisan local offices are filled and measures such as tax and bond elections are held.

All primaries “for local, state and national offices” will be held in August, and “all general elections for local, state and national offices and issues will be held in November,” the bill, which was approved in its first phase last week, said.

“I don’t see how they’re reading that April hasn’t gone,” Lennon said.

The 165-page bill, sponsored by state Rep. Tim Taylor, R-Bunston, advanced on a voice vote and is scheduled for a committee hearing Monday afternoon on its fiscal impact. If the bill passes committee, Taylor said he expects a final House vote in the afternoon.

In an interview Friday with The Independent, Taylor said he only wants to move the property tax election from April to November.

“There is absolutely no intention of moving all elections from April,” Taylor said.

The benefit of moving the property tax election to November is greater voter turnout, Taylor said. There were 160 property tax ballot propositions before voters in 2024 from 2,811 taxing districts, Taylor said.

“It wouldn’t hurt to move it to November,” he said.

Lennon’s concerns echo those of state Rep. Peggy McGaugh, a Republican from Carrollton who was the Carroll County clerk for nearly 24 years. During the debate, McGough said she was certain that if the bill passed unchanged, the April election would be over.

The November ballot will be longer, she said, and key national and statewide races and issues in the November election will make it more difficult to educate voters on local issues and candidates.

“If you move all elections to November, your ballot will be so long that voter fatigue is an issue, and many of the taxes you want to pass or fail will be lost to all the issues before or after it,” McGah said.

Taylor said he’s not convinced voters will tire of local issues before they get to them and leave the ballot blank for those issues.

“I’m not going to imply that they don’t have the stamina and the strength and the courage to read the entire ballot,” Taylor said.

In Boone County, turnout in the past five April elections ranged from 14% to 25% of registered voters. About 70% of voters cast ballots in the 2020 and 2024 presidential elections, while 50% turned out for the 2022 off-year election.

Money spent to get voters excited for the November election is the reason for the high turnout, Lennon said.

Local governments trying to get voters’ attention will have to “break through the noise” of November elections where candidates and issue campaigns are spending millions, Lennon said.

Local taxing districts can distribute materials describing how the tax money is used, but state law prohibits those materials from being used to advocate for a favorable vote. Organizing costs for local ballot measures are often less than $10,000.

Lennon said, “That’s why we see lower turnout in April, because that money isn’t being spent on issues in the April election.”

Moving all elections from April to November would save some costs, Lennon said. This will reduce expenses on renting space for polling stations and salaries for election judges, she said.

But the savings, she said, would likely come at the cost of using two-page ballots. The equipment she uses can hold a 19-inch ballot, she said.

The November 2024 ballot was 17 inches long and covered two sides of the paper, she said.

The two-page ballot brings more challenges to verifying the results, Lennon said.

“Reconciling the number of voters who check with the number of ballots received is really difficult,” Lennon said. “It’s hard to reconcile the fact that voters choose not to cast both ballots.”

The changes Taylor wants to implement for the property tax election are not limited to the date of the vote. The ballot will also include an estimate of how much the proposed tax would cost property owners for each $100,000 of base value used for assessment.

And each ballot question will state the percentage increase in taxes from the increased fees, why the taxing district needs the money, and when the tax will be levied.

Uncertainty about the way the bill was drafted is not enough to back it up and amend it, Taylor said.

The election provision will be studied, Taylor said, and if necessary, he will recommend changes as the bill is amended in the state Senate. It is too late to further amend the bill in the House.

He said that he wants to amend the bill together with the local election authority.

“I want to make it right,” Taylor said. “This bill is just getting off the ground and there will be a lot of massage along the way.”

The tax bill was moved too soon, House Minority Leader Ashley Aune, Democrat of Kansas City, said at a news conference last week. Most of the time spent during the debate was on an amendment that standardized ballot questions for property tax measures. He said that other important issues of the bill were not discussed.

“Democrats are on board to deliver much-needed property tax relief to Missourians, but the details matter, and we’ve barely scratched the surface of how this bill will affect local governments and their ability to serve their residents,” Aune said.

The bill needs 82 votes to pass the Senate. The bill has supporters and critics on both sides, Taylor said.

His appeal to colleagues is to keep the bill going, Taylor said. The bill is sure to be amended in the Senate, and if it clears that chamber, the House will take another vote later.

“My job is to convince them that this process is very far along,” Taylor said, “and that we will have a good chance of getting something across the finish line.”