Missouri committee hears bill letting counties give property tax credits to 100% permanently disabled veterans
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Summary
House Bill 2869 would let counties grant up to a 100% property-tax credit on a primary residence (market-value cap $500,000; homestead up to 5 acres) for veterans rated 100% permanent-and-total by the VA; supporters urged local flexibility and said the measure prevents foreclosures, while the Department of Revenue warned of late fiscal-note timing and potential fiscal impacts in a full-adoption scenario.
Representative Mike Jones, R-District 12, introduced House Bill 2869 on behalf of veterans seeking relief from rising property taxes. Jones said the bill "authorizes the counties to grant up to a 100% property tax credit on the primary resident residence of a 100% permanently and totally disabled veteran," and that the measure is limited to homes with a market value at or under $500,000 and generally tied to five acres of homestead use.
Jones told the Special Committee on Tax Reform he drafted the measure to give counties discretion to opt in or out and to prevent the credit from reducing assessed valuation or impairing bonded indebtedness. He said the bill also"prevents the stacking with other property tax credit programs," and carries forward credit protections for surviving spouses who remain unmarried and in the home.
Supporters from veterans organizations urged the committee to act. Troy Williams, legislative chairman for the Missouri Association of Veterans Organizations and a commissioner for the Missouri Veterans Commission, said the bill "is a responsible common sense road map that empowers our counties to finally protect their 100% disabled residents from being taxed out of their homes," and urged a do-pass. Williams added, "No school district in Missouri should be funded by the foreclosure of a disabled veteran's home."
Mike Schrader of the Department of Missouri VFW echoed that support, saying the bill "provides stability without shifting the burden to other taxpayers" because it treats credits as revenue received for rate and levy calculations.
Committee members probed data and fiscal impacts. Representative Strickler asked how many veterans would qualify; Jones cited widely varying estimates—"between 15,000 to 27,000"—and said identifying how many are 100% permanent-and-total can be difficult. Representative Keithley flagged a fiscal-note scenario "up to, like, almost a $200,000,000" cost if all estimated veterans qualified and every county adopted the measure; Jones and other members said the bill's county option is designed to avoid that outcome and to preserve accounting conventions by structuring it as a local credit.
Zach White, legislative director for the Missouri Department of Revenue, appeared for informational testimony and asked the committee to ensure the department receives timely fiscal-note requests, noting that some fiscal interactions (including reduced eligibility for the refundable property-tax credit) would occur if veterans used the county credit instead of MOPTC refunds.
Next steps: the committee closed the hearing on HB 2869 after oral testimony and questions but did not take a vote during the meeting. The sponsor and supporters said they will continue to work with members on technical drafting and fiscal analysis.