Missouri fire district concerned about making ends meet if property taxes freeze

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - During debates and discussions, Missouri lawmakers added a plan to reduce property tax increases for homeowners to their special session agenda. While this would be a relief for homeowners, fire departments and school districts are expressing concerns about meeting their expenses.

Firetrucks, equipment, wages: for a fire protection district like Marshfield, all those expenses depend on property taxes. But under a new plan, that funding would freeze at its current rate for Webster County, where Marshfield is located. Chief Michael Taylor said this could put a serious strain on the fire district’s resources.

“We could not survive as an organization and continue paying employees and buying equipment that are going up large percentages every year, and receive no additional funding,” Taylor said.

Lawmakers are back in Jefferson City to work on a plan to keep the Chiefs and Royals from leaving the state. But compromises were needed to get the plan moving. Last week, to appease some lawmakers like Sen. Joe Nicola, Gov. Mike Kehoe added property taxes to the call for a special session.

“We’ve got this stadium tax bill to give them over a billion and a half dollars while I’ve got constituents who are suffering under these horrendous property taxes,” Nicola said.

Under the current plan, 22 counties could have their property taxes frozen at the current rate, dozens more would be limited to only a 5% maximum increase every two years, while just a few would not be affected. The freeze or limitations would need to be voted on by the county’s residents.

This doesn’t mean taxes will never go up, though. Property taxes can still be increased through a voter-approved levy or if the value of property increases due to renovations.

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