EXPLANATION-Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in this bill is not enacted
and is intended to be omitted in the law.
FIRST REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 95
102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR KOENIG.
0766S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
AN ACT
To repeal section 139.031, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof two new sections relating to property
taxes.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 139.031, RSMo, is repealed and two new 1
sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 2
137.132 and 139.031, to read as follows:3
137.132. 1. For the purposes of this section, and in 1
any appeal alleging a violation thereof, the following terms 2
shall mean: 3
(1) "Individual level of assessment", the ratio of an 4
assessor's assessed value for an individual parcel of real 5
property, as verified pursuant to section 137.245, to the 6
actual true value in money of such real property, expressed 7
as a percentage; 8
(2) "Overall level of assessment", the ratio of the 9
total of the assessor's assessed values for all real 10
property in a subclass, as verified pursuant to section 11
137.245, to the total of actual true values in money of the 12
same real property, expressed as a percentage, and measured 13
by an assessment ratio study. 14
2. The level of assessment of all real property in 15
subclass (1) or subclass (3), as provided in section 16
137.115, shall be uniform and equal throughout each 17
subclass. If the overall level of assessment in either 18 SB 95 2
subclass is lower than the individual level of assessment of 19
any parcel in the same subclass, the individual level o f 20
assessment of such parcel shall be lowered to the overall 21
level of assessment for the subclass upon appeal by the 22
property owner to the local board of equalization, state tax 23
commission, or circuit court. 24
139.031. 1. Any taxpayer may protest all or any part 1
of any current taxes assessed against the taxpayer, except 2
taxes collected by the director of revenue of Missouri. Any 3
such taxpayer desiring to pay any current taxes under 4
protest or while paying taxes based upon a disput ed 5
assessment shall[, at the time of paying such taxes, ] make 6
full payment of the current tax bill before the delinquency 7
date and file with the collector a written statement setting 8
forth the grounds on which the protest is based. The 9
statement shall include the true value in money claimed by 10
the taxpayer if disputed. An appeal before the state tax 11
commission shall not be dismissed on the grounds that a 12
taxpayer failed to file a written statement when paying 13
taxes based upon a disputed assessmen t. 14
2. Upon receiving [payment of current taxes under ] 15
written notice of protest under subsection 1 of this section 16
or upon receiving from the state tax commission or the 17
circuit court notice of an appeal from the state tax 18
commission or the circu it court under section 138.430, 19
[along with] and full payment of the current tax bill before 20
the delinquency date, the collector shall disburse to the 21
proper official all portions of taxes not protested or not 22
disputed by the taxpayer and shall impound in a separate 23
fund all portions of such taxes which are protested or in 24
dispute. Every taxpayer protesting the payment of current 25
taxes under subsection 1 of this section shall, within 26 SB 95 3
ninety days after filing his protest, commence an action 27
against the collector by filing a petition for the recovery 28
of the amount protested in the circuit court of the county 29
in which the collector maintains his office. If any 30
taxpayer so protesting his taxes under subsection 1 of this 31
section shall fail to comme nce an action in the circuit 32
court for the recovery of the taxes protested within the 33
time prescribed in this subsection, such protest shall 34
become null and void and of no effect, and the collector 35
shall then disburse to the proper official the taxes 36
impounded, and any interest earned thereon, as provided 37
above in this subsection. 38
3. No action against the collector shall be commenced 39
by any taxpayer who has, effective for the current tax year, 40
filed with the state tax commission or the circuit court a 41
timely and proper appeal of the assessment of the taxpayer's 42
property. The portion of taxes in dispute from an appeal of 43
an assessment shall be impounded in a separate fund and the 44
commission in its decision and order issued under chapter 45
138 or the circuit court in its judgment may order all or 46
any part of such taxes refunded to the taxpayer, or may 47
authorize the collector to release and disburse all or any 48
part of such taxes. 49
4. Trial of the action for recovery of taxes protested 50
under subsection 1 of this section in the circuit court 51
shall be in the manner prescribed for nonjury civil 52
proceedings, and, after determination of the issues, the 53
court shall make such orders as may be just and equitable to 54
refund to the taxpayer all or any part of the current taxes 55
paid under protest, together with any interest earned 56
thereon, or to authorize the collector to release and 57
disburse all or any part of the impounded taxes, and any 58 SB 95 4
interest earned thereon, to the appropriate officials of the 59
taxing authorities. Either party to the proceedings may 60
appeal the determination of the circuit court. 61
5. All the county collectors of taxes, and the 62
collector of taxes in any city not within a county, shall, 63
upon written application of a taxpayer, refund or credit 64
against the taxpayer's tax liability in the following 65
taxable year and subsequent consecutive taxable years until 66
the taxpayer has received credit in full for any real or 67
personal property tax mistakenly or erroneously levi ed 68
against the taxpayer and collected in whole or in part by 69
the collector. Such application shall be filed within three 70
years after the tax is mistakenly or erroneously paid. The 71
governing body, or other appropriate body or official of the 72
county or city not within a county, shall make available to 73
the collector funds necessary to make refunds under this 74
subsection by issuing warrants upon the fund to which the 75
mistaken or erroneous payment has been credited, or 76
otherwise. 77
6. No taxpayer shall receive any interest on any money 78
paid in by the taxpayer erroneously. 79
7. All protested taxes impounded under protest under 80
subsection 1 of this section and all disputed taxes 81
impounded under notice as required by section 138.430 shall 82
be invested by the collector in the same manner as assets 83
specified in section 30.260 for investment of state moneys. 84
A taxpayer who is entitled to a refund of protested or 85
disputed taxes shall also receive the interest earned on the 86
investment thereof. If the collector is ordered to release 87
and disburse all or part of the taxes paid under protest or 88
dispute to the proper official, such taxes shall be 89
disbursed along with the proportional amount of interest 90 SB 95 5
earned on the investment of the taxes due the particular 91
taxing authority. 92
8. Any taxing authority may request to be notified by 93
the county collector of current taxes paid under protest. 94
Such request shall be in writing and submitted on or before 95
February first next following the delinquen t date of current 96
taxes paid under protest or disputed, and the county 97
collector shall provide such information on or before March 98
first of the same year to the requesting taxing authority of 99
the taxes paid under protest and disputed taxes which would 100
be received by such taxing authority if the funds were not 101
the subject of a protest or dispute. Any taxing authority 102
may apply to the circuit court of the county or city not 103
within a county in which a collector has impounded protested 104
or disputed taxes under this section and, upon a 105
satisfactory showing that such taxing authority would 106
receive such impounded tax funds if they were not the 107
subject of a protest or dispute and that such taxing 108
authority has the financial ability and legal capacity to 109
repay such impounded tax funds in the event a decision 110
ordering a refund to the taxpayer is subsequently made, the 111
circuit court shall order, pendente lite, the disbursal of 112
all or any part of such impounded tax funds to such taxing 113
authority. The circuit court issuing an order under this 114
subsection shall retain jurisdiction of such matter for 115
further proceedings, if any, to compel restitution of such 116
tax funds to the taxpayer. In the event that any protested 117
or disputed tax funds refunded to a taxpayer were disbursed 118
to a taxing authority under this subsection instead of being 119
held and invested by the collector under subsection 7 of 120
this section, the taxpayer shall be entitled to interest on 121
all refunded tax funds , from the date that the dis puted 122 SB 95 6
taxes were distributed to a taxing authority through the 123
date of the refund, at the [annual rate] rates calculated by 124
the state treasurer and applied by the director of revenue 125
under section 32.068. This measure of interest shall only 126
apply to protested or disputed tax funds actually 127
distributed to a taxing authority pursuant to this 128
subsection. In the event of a refund of protested or 129
disputed tax funds which remain impounded by the collector, 130
the taxpayer shall instead be entitled to the interest 131
actually earned on those refunded impounded tax funds under 132
subsection 7 of this section. Any sovereign or official 133
immunity otherwise applicable to the taxing authorities is 134
hereby waived for all purposes related to this subsection, 135
and the taxpayer is expressly authorized to seek an order 136
enforcing this provision from the circuit court that 137
originally ordered the distribution of the protested or 138
disputed funds, or directly from the state tax commission, 139
if the tax appeal that resulted i n the refund was heard and 140
determined by the state tax commission. 141
9. No appeal filed from the circuit court's or state 142
tax commission's determination pertaining to the amount of 143
refund shall stay any order of refund, but the decision 144
filed by any court of last review modifying that 145
determination shall be binding on the parties, and the 146
decision rendered shall be complied with by the party 147
affected by any modification within ninety days of the date 148
of such decision. No taxpayer shall receive any interest on 149
any additional award of refund, and the collector shall not 150
receive any interest on any ordered return of refund in 151
whole or in part. In the event that a taxpayer is entitled 152
to a refund, the collector shall issue the refund to the 153
taxpayer within fifteen days of the date that the circuit 154 SB 95 7
court's or state tax commission's determination establishing 155
the amount of the refund becomes final, and if the collector 156
does not issue the refund within fifteen days, the taxpayer 157
shall be entitled to interest on the refund at the rate 158
established by the director of revenue under section 32.065 159
for the period of time after the expiration of the fifteen 160
days and until the refund is issued, in addition to all 161
other interest due to the taxpayer under this section. 162