COMMITTEE ON LEGISLATIVE RESEARCH OVERSIGHT DIVISION FISCAL NOTE L.R. No.:2991S.01I Bill No.:SB 759 Subject:County Government; State Tax Commission; Taxation and Revenue - Property Type:Original Date:April 8, 2025Bill Summary:This proposal modifies provisions relating to erroneous property classifications. FISCAL SUMMARY ESTIMATED NET EFFECT ON GENERAL REVENUE FUNDFUND AFFECTEDFY 2026FY 2027FY 2028Total Estimated Net Effect on General Revenue $0$0$0 ESTIMATED NET EFFECT ON OTHER STATE FUNDSFUND AFFECTEDFY 2026FY 2027FY 2028Total Estimated Net Effect on Other State Funds $0$0$0 Numbers within parentheses: () indicate costs or losses. L.R. No. 2991S.01I Bill No. SB 759 Page 2 of April 8, 2025 NM:LR:OD ESTIMATED NET EFFECT ON FEDERAL FUNDSFUND AFFECTEDFY 2026FY 2027FY 2028Total Estimated Net Effect on All Federal Funds $0$0$0 ESTIMATED NET EFFECT ON FULL TIME EQUIVALENT (FTE)FUND AFFECTEDFY 2026FY 2027FY 2028Total Estimated Net Effect on FTE 000 ☐ Estimated Net Effect (expenditures or reduced revenues) expected to exceed $250,000 in any of the three fiscal years after implementation of the act or at full implementation of the act. ☐ Estimated Net Effect (savings or increased revenues) expected to exceed $250,000 in any of the three fiscal years after implementation of the act or at full implementation of the act. ESTIMATED NET EFFECT ON LOCAL FUNDSFUND AFFECTEDFY 2026FY 2027FY 2028Local Government$0 to (Unknown)$0 to (Unknown)$0 to (Unknown) L.R. No. 2991S.01I Bill No. SB 759 Page 3 of April 8, 2025 NM:LR:OD FISCAL ANALYSIS ASSUMPTION §138.430 – Erroneous Property Classifications Officials from the State Tax Commission (STC) assume the proposal will have no fiscal impact on their organization. Oversight does not have any information to the contrary. Therefore, Oversight will reflect a zero impact in the fiscal note for these agencies. Officials from the Office of the State Courts Administrator did not respond to Oversight’s request for fiscal impact for this proposal. Oversight assumes this language codifies in statute procedures for taxpayers who are a party to an erroneous property classification by county assessors on how they may recover any costs and fees associated with such classification. Oversight used information from STC’s website regarding open appeals as of 3/25/2025 to create the following chart. N umber of P roposed C ounty O pen Appeals B OE Value V alue B enton 8 $ 531,290 $ 245,712 B ollinger 8 $ 1,644,400 $ 781,223 B oone 4 2 $ 192,378,100 $ 91,395,441 B utler 3 $ 1,664,400 $ 893,450 C ape Girardeau 6 $ 43,656,530 $ 23,374,946 C lay 6 7 $ 158,469,160 $ 95,788,242 C ole 1 $ 9,600 $ 1,800 H enry 1 $ 3,248,700 $ 0 J ackson 2 1 $ 37,314,733 $ 20,888,579 M ontgomery 8 $ 9,665,900 $ 5,637,820 R andolph 1 4 $ 17,148,510 $ 8,146,955 S t. Francois 2 1 $ 21,104,579 $ 16,122,069 S t. Louis 6 08 $ 700,341,760 $ 66,959,589 S t. Louis City 1 $ 13,475,680 $ 7,541,490 S te. Genevieve 2 $ 940,170 $ 771,430 T exas 1 $ 21,150 $ 15,070 T OTALS 8 12 $ 1,201,614,662 $ 338,563,816 1 % of the open appeals are erroneous 8 $ 12,016,147 $ 3,385,638 D amages at 10% of original assessed value 1 $ 1,201,615 $ 338,564 L.R. No. 2991S.01I Bill No. SB 759 Page 4 of April 8, 2025 NM:LR:OD Oversight notes this chart list the open appeals as of 3/25/2025 by county that are listed as an overvaluation for the grounds for appeal. Oversight only used appeals from January 2024 and forward. Oversight inquired STC to determine the number to use in Oversight’s example. Using the proposed value above, if 1% of the open appeals cases are considered erroneous from this proposal and those cases could potentially have a civil case filed where damages would be awarded at 10% of the original assessed value, it would be possible for the damages to have an impact on county funds from this example. Oversight has presented this fiscal note on the best current information that we have or on prior year information regarding a similar bill. Upon the receipt of additional agency responses, Oversight will review to determine if an updated fiscal note should be prepared and seek the necessary approval to publish a new fiscal note. Oversight is unable to determine how many of the open cases have the potential to be erroneous where a taxpayer would file a civil lawsuit to recover damages as outlined in this proposal. Oversight assumes any potential awards from a civil lawsuit would be awarded to the taxpayer and potentially impact county funds. Therefore, Oversight will reflect a $0 to unknown cost to county funds to account for any potential recovery of damages sought by the taxpayer from this proposal. Oversight only reflects the responses received from state agencies and political subdivisions; however, other counties & county assessors were requested to respond to this proposed legislation but did not. A listing of political subdivisions included in the Missouri Legislative Information System (MOLIS) database is available upon request. FISCAL IMPACT – State GovernmentFY 2026 (10 Mo.) FY 2027FY 2028$0$0$0FISCAL IMPACT – Local GovernmentFY 2026 (10 Mo.) FY 2027FY 2028COUNTY FUNDSCost – potential recovery of damages from an erroneous property classification filed in a civil lawsuit by the taxpayer against the county assessor §138.430 $0 to (Unknown) $0 to (Unknown) $0 to (Unknown) ESTIMATED NET EFFECT ON COUNTY FUNDS $0 to (Unknown) $0 to (Unknown) $0 to (Unknown) L.R. No. 2991S.01I Bill No. SB 759 Page 5 of April 8, 2025 NM:LR:OD FISCAL IMPACT – Small Business Small businesses could be impacted by this proposal if they have a civil case involving an erroneous property classification of real property. FISCAL DESCRIPTION Current law provides that a taxpayer shall be awarded costs and reasonable attorney's fees for any appeal of an assessor's classification of real property that is found by the State Tax Commission or a court of competent jurisdiction to be an erroneous classification. This act provides that any such decision shall include the recovery of such costs. The act provides that any taxpayer not receiving such costs and fees derived from any decision made on or after January 1, 2024, shall have a cause of action to recover such costs and fees, as well as the costs and fees associated with initiating such cause of action. Such taxpayer shall also be entitled to recover damages in an amount equal to ten percent of the original assessed value of the property that was erroneously classified. This legislation is not federally mandated, would not duplicate any other program and would not require additional capital improvements or rental space. SOURCES OF INFORMATION State Tax Commission Julie MorffJessica HarrisDirectorAssistant DirectorApril 8, 2025April 8, 2025