The Problem
Property taxes are a vital and efficient source of revenue for local government, but various factors, including harmful abatements, inconsistent assessment practices, and consistently poor management in Jackson County, have eroded trust in the overall system.
The Solution
Property taxes work best when they are predictable, broadly based, and targeted to the local services that people benefit from. Right now, property assessments in Missouri are unpredictable and seem random to too many people. While tax-rate rollbacks help reduce these negative aspects of property taxes, the high inflation of recent years has limited the effectiveness of rate rollbacks. Missouri assessors should more uniformly assess residential property by using an average-based system instead of individually assessing every property, which leads to increased variance in values among neighboring properties and undermines trust.
Key Facts
- The 2025 Jackson County reassessment was once again a procedural disaster, leading to distrust in the system. Making Jackson County Assessor an elected position should improve the process by giving the voters and taxpayers someone to hold accountable.
- Surprisingly, cities in Missouri rely less on general property taxes than cities in any other state.
- Missouri local governments, such as school districts and fire districts, rank third among the 50 states for reliance on personal property taxes.
Which Taxes Damage Growth the Most?
| Study | Johansson et al. (2008) | Arnold et al. (2011) | Acosta-Ormaechea, Sola, & Yoo (2019) | Şen & Kaya (2023) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Worst | Corporate income tax | Corporate income tax | Personal income tax | Corporate income tax |
| 2nd Worst | Personal income tax | Personal income tax | Corporate income tax | Personal income tax |
| 3rd Worst | Consumption tax | Consumption tax | Consumption tax | Consumption tax |
| Least Bad | Property tax | Property tax | Property tax | Property tax |
Source: https://x.com/cremieuxrecueil.
Going in the Wrong Direction with Recent Reforms
In an effort to address the impact of higher property taxes in Missouri, the legislature first passed a senior property tax freeze option in 2023 and made major changes to the property tax system in 2025 during the special session. There are many problems with these bills, not the least of which are serious constitutional concerns that will likely be fought over in court. These plans are harmful simply because they reduce the property tax base. Unless local governments cut services in response to the enactment of these plans, they will almost certainly lead to higher tax rates on properties that are not subject to the property tax freezes or limitations, such as commercial property and multi-family housing. There will also be significant pressure to increase alternative taxes, like special sales taxes. Most concerningly, there will be an increased reliance on income taxes to fund local school districts through the foundation formula. Increasing our dependence on income taxes will harm economic growth in Missouri.
It would be better for the state to substantially change the biennial property assessment process. Missouri should eliminate the practice of sending thousands of assessors out into our neighborhoods every other year to individually assess every property. The Missouri State Tax Commission could work with county assessors, local realtors, and online real estate resources to determine average county increases (or decreases) in valuation for each reassessment cycle. Each residential, commercial, or agricultural property in a county could be adjusted based on the county’s average for that particular class of property. Tax rates could then be adjusted based on that average, and the vast majority of homeowners would be subject to the same resulting increase (or decrease) in their overall property taxes. This method would eliminate wide discrepancies from house to house that undermine faith in the current tax and assessment system.
Rolling Back Tax Rates in Kansas City
Families and property owners within the Kansas City 33 School District have been hit particularly hard by the continuously mismanaged assessment process in Jackson County and the unique rate-rollback exemption for that large school district. In 2023, when assessments in the school district went up 24%, the school board kept the tax rate exactly the same. That placed a real burden on homeowners, who saw their property taxes skyrocket. In 2025, after another round of substantial and contentious assessment increases, the school board approved a very slight 10-cent rate rollback. The Kansas City 33 School District should be required to roll back its property tax rates as assessments increase, just as every other taxing entity in Missouri does.
Change the Underlying Property Tax Base
Property taxes work best when the item being taxed is immobile. Taxing cars, boats, livestock, grain, and business equipment is not sound tax policy. While there is no way of knowing how many Missouri cars are improperly registered in Illinois, Kansas, or Arkansas in order to avoid Missouri’s property tax, the number is likely high. Missouri should phase out personal property taxes in a revenue-neutral manner by replacing them with slightly higher real property taxes.
Free the Livestock
Missouri farmers, ranchers, and tax assessors spend significant time counting and calculating the taxes owed on livestock, but the total tax revenue raised for all governments on all livestock throughout the state only amounts to about $10 million. Those paltry revenues do not justify the effort that goes into collecting the tax in the first place. Missouri should eliminate the personal property tax on livestock and replace it with a slightly higher tax rate on farmland.
Policy Recommendations
- Remove the Kansas City 33 School District’s exemption from property tax rate rollbacks (Missouri Constitution, Article 10, Section 11(G)).
- Eliminate personal property taxes, or, at a minimum, require that those tax rates roll back like real property taxes and expand RSMo §92.040 (which allows lower personal property taxes on business equipment) to more cities than just St. Louis and Kansas City.
- Eliminate personal property taxes on livestock as a wasteful expenditure of time and effort.
- Repeal or substantially amend the laws allowing for senior citizen property tax freezes.
- Change to a reassessment system for homes that is based on community sale averages, not individual property assessments.
