FIRST REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 104
102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR CIERPIOT.
0685S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
AN ACT
To repeal section 137.115, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to the
assessment of personal property.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 137.115, RSMo, is repealed and one new 1
section enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as section 137.115, 2
to read as follows:3
137.115. 1. All other laws to the contrary 1
notwithstanding, the assessor or the assessor's deputies in 2
all counties of this state includi ng the City of St. Louis 3
shall annually make a list of all real and tangible personal 4
property taxable in the assessor's city, county, town or 5
district. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 3 of 6
this section and section 137.078, for all calendar years 7
ending on or before December 31, 2023, the assessor shall 8
annually assess all personal property at thirty -three and 9
one-third percent of its true value in money as of January 10
first of each calendar year. For all calendar years 11
beginning on or after January 1, 2024, and ending on or 12
before December 31, 2035, except as otherwise provided in 13
subsection 3 of this section and section 137.078, the 14
percent of true value at which the assessor shall annually 15
assess all personal property shall be redu ced by one percent 16
per year. For all calendar years beginning on or after 17
January 1, 2036, except as otherwise provided in subsection 18 SB 104 2
3 of this section and section 137.078, the assessor shall 19
annually assess all personal property at twenty percent of 20
its true value in money as of January first of each calendar 21
year. The assessor shall annually assess all real property, 22
including any new construction and improvements to real 23
property, and possessory interests in real property at the 24
percent of its true value in money set in subsection 5 of 25
this section. The true value in money of any possessory 26
interest in real property in subclass (3), where such real 27
property is on or lies within the ultimate airport boundary 28
as shown by a federal airport la yout plan, as defined by 14 29
CFR 151.5, of a commercial airport having a FAR Part 139 30
certification and owned by a political subdivision, shall be 31
the otherwise applicable true value in money of any such 32
possessory interest in real property, less the to tal dollar 33
amount of costs paid by a party, other than the political 34
subdivision, towards any new construction or improvements on 35
such real property completed after January 1, 2008, and 36
which are included in the above -mentioned possessory 37
interest, regardless of the year in which such costs were 38
incurred or whether such costs were considered in any prior 39
year. The assessor shall annually assess all real property 40
in the following manner: new assessed values shall be 41
determined as of January first o f each odd-numbered year and 42
shall be entered in the assessor's books; those same 43
assessed values shall apply in the following even -numbered 44
year, except for new construction and property improvements 45
which shall be valued as though they had been compl eted as 46
of January first of the preceding odd -numbered year. The 47
assessor may call at the office, place of doing business, or 48
residence of each person required by this chapter to list 49
property, and require the person to make a correct statement 50 SB 104 3
of all taxable tangible personal property owned by the 51
person or under his or her care, charge or management, 52
taxable in the county. On or before January first of each 53
even-numbered year, the assessor shall prepare and submit a 54
two-year assessment maintena nce plan to the county governing 55
body and the state tax commission for their respective 56
approval or modification. The county governing body shall 57
approve and forward such plan or its alternative to the plan 58
to the state tax commission by February firs t. If the 59
county governing body fails to forward the plan or its 60
alternative to the plan to the state tax commission by 61
February first, the assessor's plan shall be considered 62
approved by the county governing body. If the state tax 63
commission fails to approve a plan and if the state tax 64
commission and the assessor and the governing body of the 65
county involved are unable to resolve the differences, in 66
order to receive state cost -share funds outlined in section 67
137.750, the county or the assessor s hall petition the 68
administrative hearing commission, by May first, to decide 69
all matters in dispute regarding the assessment maintenance 70
plan. Upon agreement of the parties, the matter may be 71
stayed while the parties proceed with mediation or 72
arbitration upon terms agreed to by the parties. The final 73
decision of the administrative hearing commission shall be 74
subject to judicial review in the circuit court of the 75
county involved. In the event a valuation of subclass (1) 76
real property within any c ounty with a charter form of 77
government, or within a city not within a county, is made by 78
a computer, computer -assisted method or a computer program, 79
the burden of proof, supported by clear, convincing and 80
cogent evidence to sustain such valuation, sha ll be on the 81
assessor at any hearing or appeal. In any such county, 82 SB 104 4
unless the assessor proves otherwise, there shall be a 83
presumption that the assessment was made by a computer, 84
computer-assisted method or a computer program. Such 85
evidence shall include, but shall not be limited to, the 86
following: 87
(1) The findings of the assessor based on an appraisal 88
of the property by generally accepted appraisal techniques; 89
and 90
(2) The purchase prices from sales of at least three 91
comparable properties and the address or location thereof. 92
As used in this subdivision, the word "comparable" means 93
that: 94
(a) Such sale was closed at a date relevant to the 95
property valuation; and 96
(b) Such properties are not more than one mile from 97
the site of the disputed property, except where no similar 98
properties exist within one mile of the disputed property, 99
the nearest comparable property shall be used. Such 100
property shall be within five hundred square feet in size of 101
the disputed property, and resemble the disputed property in 102
age, floor plan, number of rooms, and other relevant 103
characteristics. 104
2. Assessors in each county of this state and the City 105
of St. Louis may send personal property assessment forms 106
through the mail. 107
3. The following items of personal property shall each 108
constitute separate subclasses of tangible personal property 109
and shall be assessed and valued for the purposes of 110
taxation at the following percentages of their true value in 111
money: 112
(1) Grain and other agricultural crops in an 113
unmanufactured condition, one -half of one percent; 114 SB 104 5
(2) Livestock, twelve percent; 115
(3) Farm machinery, twelve percent; 116
(4) Motor vehicles which are eligible for registration 117
as and are registered as historic motor vehicles pursuant to 118
section 301.131 and aircraft which are at least twenty -five 119
years old and which are used solely for noncommercial 120
purposes and are operated less than two hundred hours per 121
year or aircraft that are home built from a kit, fiv e 122
percent; 123
(5) Poultry, twelve percent; and 124
(6) Tools and equipment used for pollution control and 125
tools and equipment used in retooling for the purpose of 126
introducing new product lines or used for making 127
improvements to existing products b y any company which is 128
located in a state enterprise zone and which is identified 129
by any standard industrial classification number cited in 130
subdivision (7) of section 135.200, twenty -five percent. 131
4. The person listing the property shall enter a t rue 132
and correct statement of the property, in a printed blank 133
prepared for that purpose. The statement, after being 134
filled out, shall be signed and either affirmed or sworn to 135
as provided in section 137.155. The list shall then be 136
delivered to the assessor. 137
5. (1) All subclasses of real property, as such 138
subclasses are established in Section 4(b) of Article X of 139
the Missouri Constitution and defined in section 137.016, 140
shall be assessed at the following percentages of true value: 141
(a) For real property in subclass (1), nineteen 142
percent; 143
(b) For real property in subclass (2), twelve percent; 144
and 145 SB 104 6
(c) For real property in subclass (3), thirty -two 146
percent. 147
(2) A taxpayer may apply to the county assessor, or, 148
if not located within a county, then the assessor of such 149
city, for the reclassification of such taxpayer's real 150
property if the use or purpose of such real property is 151
changed after such property is assessed under the provisions 152
of this chapter. If the assessor determines that such 153
property shall be reclassified, he or she shall determine 154
the assessment under this subsection based on the percentage 155
of the tax year that such property was classified in each 156
subclassification. 157
6. Manufactured homes, as d efined in section 700.010, 158
which are actually used as dwelling units shall be assessed 159
at the same percentage of true value as residential real 160
property for the purpose of taxation. The percentage of 161
assessment of true value for such manufactured home s shall 162
be the same as for residential real property. If the county 163
collector cannot identify or find the manufactured home when 164
attempting to attach the manufactured home for payment of 165
taxes owed by the manufactured home owner, the county 166
collector may request the county commission to have the 167
manufactured home removed from the tax books, and such 168
request shall be granted within thirty days after the 169
request is made; however, the removal from the tax books 170
does not remove the tax lien on the man ufactured home if it 171
is later identified or found. For purposes of this section, 172
a manufactured home located in a manufactured home rental 173
park, rental community or on real estate not owned by the 174
manufactured home owner shall be considered personal 175
property. For purposes of this section, a manufactured home 176 SB 104 7
located on real estate owned by the manufactured home owner 177
may be considered real property. 178
7. Each manufactured home assessed shall be considered 179
a parcel for the purpose of reimbursem ent pursuant to 180
section 137.750, unless the manufactured home is deemed to 181
be real estate as defined in subsection 7 of section 442.015 182
and assessed as a realty improvement to the existing real 183
estate parcel. 184
8. Any amount of tax due and owing ba sed on the 185
assessment of a manufactured home shall be included on the 186
personal property tax statement of the manufactured home 187
owner unless the manufactured home is deemed to be real 188
estate as defined in subsection 7 of section 442.015, in 189
which case the amount of tax due and owing on the assessment 190
of the manufactured home as a realty improvement to the 191
existing real estate parcel shall be included on the real 192
property tax statement of the real estate owner. 193
9. The assessor of each county and each city not 194
within a county shall use the trade -in value published in 195
the October issue of the National Automobile Dealers' 196
Association Official Used Car Guide, or its successor 197
publication, as the recommended guide of information for 198
determining the true value of motor vehicles described in 199
such publication. The assessor shall not use a value that 200
is greater than the average trade -in value in determining 201
the true value of the motor vehicle without performing a 202
physical inspection of the motor vehicle. For vehicles two 203
years old or newer from a vehicle's model year, the assessor 204
may use a value other than average without performing a 205
physical inspection of the motor vehicle. In the absence of 206
a listing for a particular motor vehicle in suc h 207
publication, the assessor shall use such information or 208 SB 104 8
publications which in the assessor's judgment will fairly 209
estimate the true value in money of the motor vehicle. 210
10. Before the assessor may increase the assessed 211
valuation of any parcel o f subclass (1) real property by 212
more than fifteen percent since the last assessment, 213
excluding increases due to new construction or improvements, 214
the assessor shall conduct a physical inspection of such 215
property. 216
11. If a physical inspection is r equired, pursuant to 217
subsection 10 of this section, the assessor shall notify the 218
property owner of that fact in writing and shall provide the 219
owner clear written notice of the owner's rights relating to 220
the physical inspection. If a physical inspecti on is 221
required, the property owner may request that an interior 222
inspection be performed during the physical inspection. The 223
owner shall have no less than thirty days to notify the 224
assessor of a request for an interior physical inspection. 225
12. A physical inspection, as required by subsection 226
10 of this section, shall include, but not be limited to, an 227
on-site personal observation and review of all exterior 228
portions of the land and any buildings and improvements to 229
which the inspector has or ma y reasonably and lawfully gain 230
external access, and shall include an observation and review 231
of the interior of any buildings or improvements on the 232
property upon the timely request of the owner pursuant to 233
subsection 11 of this section. Mere observation of the 234
property via a drive -by inspection or the like shall not be 235
considered sufficient to constitute a physical inspection as 236
required by this section. 237
13. A county or city collector may accept credit cards 238
as proper form of payment of outst anding property tax or 239
license due. No county or city collector may charge 240 SB 104 9
surcharge for payment by credit card which exceeds the fee 241
or surcharge charged by the credit card bank, processor, or 242
issuer for its service. A county or city collector may 243
accept payment by electronic transfers of funds in payment 244
of any tax or license and charge the person making such 245
payment a fee equal to the fee charged the county by the 246
bank, processor, or issuer of such electronic payment. 247
14. Any county or city not within a county in this 248
state may, by an affirmative vote of the governing body of 249
such county, opt out of the provisions of this section and 250
sections 137.073, 138.060, and 138.100 as enacted by house 251
bill no. 1150 of the ninety -first general assembly, second 252
regular session and section 137.073 as modified by house 253
committee substitute for senate substitute for senate 254
committee substitute for senate bill no. 960, ninety -second 255
general assembly, second regular session, for the next year 256
of the general reassessment, prior to January first of any 257
year. No county or city not within a county shall exercise 258
this opt-out provision after implementing the provisions of 259
this section and sections 137.073, 138.060, and 138.100 as 260
enacted by house bill no. 1150 of the ninety -first general 261
assembly, second regular session and section 137.073 as 262
modified by house committee substitute for senate substitute 263
for senate committee substitute for senate bill no. 960, 264
ninety-second general assembly, second regular session, in a 265
year of general reassessment. For the purposes of applying 266
the provisions of this subsection, a political subdivision 267
contained within two or more counties where at least one of 268
such counties has opted out and at least one of su ch 269
counties has not opted out shall calculate a single tax rate 270
as in effect prior to the enactment of house bill no. 1150 271
of the ninety-first general assembly, second regular 272 SB 104 10
session. A governing body of a city not within a county or 273
a county that has opted out under the provisions of this 274
subsection may choose to implement the provisions of this 275
section and sections 137.073, 138.060, and 138.100 as 276
enacted by house bill no. 1150 of the ninety -first general 277
assembly, second regular session, and s ection 137.073 as 278
modified by house committee substitute for senate substitute 279
for senate committee substitute for senate bill no. 960, 280
ninety-second general assembly, second regular session, for 281
the next year of general reassessment, by an affirmative 282
vote of the governing body prior to December thirty -first of 283
any year. 284
15. The governing body of any city of the third 285
classification with more than twenty -six thousand three 286
hundred but fewer than twenty -six thousand seven hundred 287
inhabitants located in any county that has exercised its 288
authority to opt out under subsection 14 of this section may 289
levy separate and differing tax rates for real and personal 290
property only if such city bills and collects its own 291
property taxes or satisfies the entire cost of the billing 292
and collection of such separate and differing tax rates. 293
Such separate and differing rates shall not exceed such 294
city's tax rate ceiling. 295
16. Any portion of real property that is available as 296
reserve for strip, surface , or coal mining for minerals for 297
purposes of excavation for future use or sale to others that 298
has not been bonded and permitted under chapter 444 shall be 299
assessed based upon how the real property is currently being 300
used. Any information provided to a county assessor, state 301
tax commission, state agency, or political subdivision 302
responsible for the administration of tax policies shall, in 303
the performance of its duties, make available all books, 304 SB 104 11
records, and information requested, except such books, 305
records, and information as are by law declared confidential 306
in nature, including individually identifiable information 307
regarding a specific taxpayer or taxpayer's mine property. 308
For purposes of this subsection, "mine property" shall mean 309
all real property that is in use or readily available as a 310
reserve for strip, surface, or coal mining for minerals for 311
purposes of excavation for current or future use or sale to 312
others that has been bonded and permitted under chapter 444. 313