ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — A property tax freeze for St. Louis County seniors became law Wednesday after the deadline for County Executive Sam Page to sign or veto the bill expired.
The bill will freeze property tax increases for homeowners who are at least 67 years old, and whose homes are worth $550,000 or less. It passed the St. Louis County Council on Oct. 17.
The county's revenue department will now have to develop the specifics of the plan. According to the state law allowing the tax freeze, the new program goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2024.
Page was asked about the bill at an unrelated press conference Wednesday and he said he supports tax relief for seniors which is why he allowed the deadline to pass.
"I did not sign that bill because the underlying state legislation is fundamentally flawed and I expect that we will be talking about it for a while and I hope the legislature will work in the coming session to fix that," he said.
Nearly 90% of homes in the county are in the qualifying price range, according to the St. Louis County Assessor's Office. A spokesman for the assessor's office said they don't track demographic information about the age of homeowners, so they could not say with certainty how many of those homes could be impacted by a tax freeze.
“This relief for seniors has been a long time coming. I’m glad to see St. Louis County join counties across the state in enacting this much-needed legislation,” Councilman Mark Harder said in a release Wednesday. “This should give seniors a valuable tool to plan their annual finances.”
Seniors will have to apply for the tax credit annually.
The St. Charles County Council approved a property tax freeze for seniors in September.
