Payment is due on Dec. 31 and according to County Treasurer Sally Duff, diligent residents and area snowbirds planning to leave town for the winter have been stopping by county offices to ask after their bills.
The county typically mails out bills in mid-to-late-October, but implementing Senate Bill 190, a property tax relief program for senior citizens taking effect this year, has caused a delay.
When Duff started as treasurer in April, she says SB 190 is “something I wasn’t even thinking about…I thought everything was already going to be in place for this year’s mailings.”
Things turned out otherwise. Calculating the tax adjustments related to SB 190 have caused “a lot of stress,” said Duff. The county’s contracted software company DEVNET is still printing final bills, contributing to the delay.
SB 190 was passed by the Missouri Legislature in 2023 and is taking effect after a roll-out period. A portion of the legislation, known as the Senior Citizen Property Tax Credit, freezes assessed property values for senior citizens so a value increase will not lead to a tax increase. Participation in the plan was determined at the county level by a vote of commissioners.
In Nodaway County, says Assessor Rex Wallace, “our commissioners said: ‘Yes, we want this for our senior citizens,’ so they voted for SB 190, making our seniors eligible.”
At a meeting on Nov. 4, county commissioners and officials discussed the rollout, and did not hide the fact that implementing the program has been headache. Further, they are bracing for confusion when seniors receive their tax bills.
“The sell to the public and the public’s reading of SB 190, because it was flashed all over the news,” said Wallace, “is that whatever a senior paid in 2024, our ‘freeze’ year, will be the same amount they’re going to pay in 2025. But that’s not how the system works; not even close.”
Assessed value is only one portion of a bill’s makeup, so other factors will lead to an increase for many seniors, even those enrolled in SB 190.
Wallace said those sums are modest, around $15-$20 for most households.
“If SB 190 wasn’t intact they would be paying on average a $200 increase,” Wallace added, “so it will be impactful for those seniors.”
“They can feel confident they are saving some money,” he said.
Around 1,200 properties in the county are participating. The program will not cause a decline in revenues for the county nor for the Maryville R-II School District, Wallace said.
The county currently requires participating seniors to apply for the credit each year, but commissioners are looking to waive that requirement in the future. Applications for 2026 will open next year and are due by April 30.
