FIRST REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 784
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR HENDERSON.
3091S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
AN ACT
To repeal section 137.016, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to the
classification of certain real property.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 137.016 , RSMo, is repealed and one new 1
section enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as section 137.016, 2
to read as follows:3
137.016. 1. As used in Section 4(b) of Article X of 1
the Missouri Constitution, the following terms mean: 2
(1) "Residential property", all real property improved 3
by a structure which is used or intended to be used for 4
residential living by human occupants, vacant land in 5
connection with an airport, land used as a golf course, 6
manufactured home parks, bed and breakfast inns in which the 7
owner resides and uses as a primary residence with six or 8
fewer rooms for rent, and time -share units as defined in 9
section 407.600, except to the extent such units are 10
actually rented and subject to sales tax under subdivision 11
(6) of subsection 1 of section 144.020, but residential 12
property shall not include other similar facilities used 13
primarily for transient housing. A single family home 14
leased for a term of less than thirty consecutive days, in 15
whole or in part, subject to sales tax under subdivision (6) 16
of subsection 1 of section 144.020 shall be classified only 17
as residential property. For the purposes of this section, 18 SB 784 2
"transient housing" means all rooms available for rent or 19
lease for which the receipts from the rent or lease of such 20
rooms are subject to state sales tax pursuant to subdivision 21
(6) of subsection 1 of section 144.020; the leasing of a 22
single family home, in whole or in part, for a term of less 23
than thirty consecutive days does not, in itself, constitute 24
"transient housing"; 25
(2) "Agricultural and horticultural property", all 26
real property used for agricultural purposes and devoted 27
primarily to the raising and harvesting of crops; to the 28
feeding, breeding and management of livestock which shall 29
include breeding, showing, and boarding of horses; to 30
dairying, or to any other combination thereof; and buildings 31
and structures customarily associated with farming, 32
agricultural, and horticultural uses. Agricultural and 33
horticultural property shall also include land devoted to 34
and qualifying for payments or other compensation under a 35
soil conservation or agricultural assistance program under 36
an agreement with an agency of the federal government. 37
Agricultural and horticultural property shall further 38
include any reliever airport. Real property classified as 39
forest croplands shall not be agricultural or horticultural 40
property so long as it is classified as forest croplands and 41
shall be taxed in accordance with the laws enacted to 42
implement Section 7 of Article X of the Missouri 43
Constitution. Agricultural and horticultural property shall 44
also include any sawmill or planing mill defined in the U.S. 45
Department of Labor's Standard Industrial Classification 46
(SIC) Manual under Industry Group 242 with the SIC number 47
2421. Agricultural and horticultural property shall also 48
include urban and community gardens. For the purposes of 49
this section, "urban and community gardens" shall include 50 SB 784 3
real property cultivated by residents of a neighborhood or 51
community for the purposes of providing agricultural 52
products, as defined in section 262.900, for the use of 53
residents of the neighborhood or community, and shall not 54
include a garden intended for individual or personal use; 55
(3) "Utility, industrial , commercial, railroad and 56
other real property", all real property used directly or 57
indirectly for any commercial, mining, industrial, 58
manufacturing, trade, professional, business, or similar 59
purpose, including all property centrally assessed by the 60
state tax commission but shall not include floating docks, 61
portions of which are separately owned and the remainder of 62
which is designated for common ownership and in which no one 63
person or business entity owns more than five individual 64
units. All other real property not included in the property 65
listed in subclasses (1) and (2) of Section 4(b) of Article 66
X of the Missouri Constitution, as such property is defined 67
in this section, shall be deemed to be included in the term 68
"utility, industrial, comme rcial, railroad and other real 69
property". 70
2. Pursuant to Article X of the state Constitution, 71
any taxing district may adjust its operating levy to recoup 72
any loss of property tax revenue, except revenues from the 73
surtax imposed pursuant to Articl e X, Subsection 2 of 74
Section 6 of the Constitution, as the result of changing the 75
classification of structures intended to be used for 76
residential living by human occupants which contain five or 77
more dwelling units if such adjustment of the levy does n ot 78
exceed the highest tax rate in effect subsequent to the 1980 79
tax year. For purposes of this section, loss in revenue 80
shall include the difference between the revenue that would 81
have been collected on such property under its 82 SB 784 4
classification prior to enactment of this section and the 83
amount to be collected under its classification under this 84
section. The county assessor of each county or city not 85
within a county shall provide information to each taxing 86
district within its boundaries regarding the difference in 87
assessed valuation of such property as the result of such 88
change in classification. 89
3. All reclassification of property as the result of 90
changing the classification of structures intended to be 91
used for residential living by human occupants which contain 92
five or more dwelling units shall apply to assessments made 93
after December 31, 1994. 94
4. Where real property is used or held for use for 95
more than one purpose and such uses result in different 96
classifications, the county as sessor shall allocate to each 97
classification the percentage of the true value in money of 98
the property devoted to each use; except that, where 99
agricultural and horticultural property, as defined in this 100
section, also contains a dwelling unit or units, the farm 101
dwelling, appurtenant residential -related structures and up 102
to five acres immediately surrounding such farm dwelling 103
shall be residential property, as defined in this section, 104
provided that the portion of property used or held for use 105
as an urban and community garden shall not be residential 106
property. This subsection shall not apply to any reliever 107
airport. 108
5. All real property which is vacant, unused, or held 109
for future use; which is used for a private club, a not -for- 110
profit or other nonexempt lodge, club, business, trade, 111
service organization, or similar entity; or for which a 112
determination as to its classification cannot be made under 113
the definitions set out in subsection 1 of this section, 114 SB 784 5
shall be classified according to its immediate most suitable 115
economic use, which use shall be determined after 116
consideration of: 117
(1) Immediate prior use, if any, of such property; 118
(2) Location of such property; 119
(3) Zoning classification of such property; except 120
that, such zoning classification shall not be considered 121
conclusive if, upon consideration of all factors, it is 122
determined that such zoning classification does not reflect 123
the immediate most suitable economic use of the property; 124
(4) Other legal restricti ons on the use of such 125
property; 126
(5) Availability of water, electricity, gas, sewers, 127
street lighting, and other public services for such property; 128
(6) Size of such property; 129
(7) Access of such property to public thoroughfares; 130
and 131
(8) Any other factors relevant to a determination of 132
the immediate most suitable economic use of such property. 133
6. All lands classified as forest croplands shall not, 134
for taxation purposes, be classified as subclass (1), 135
subclass (2), or subcla ss (3) real property, as such classes 136
are prescribed in Section 4(b) of Article X of the Missouri 137
Constitution and defined in this section, but shall be taxed 138
in accordance with the laws enacted to implement Section 7 139
of Article X of the Missouri Const itution. 140