The General Assembly’s recent focus on tax reform and property reassessments, including major caps on property tax assessment increases imposed during this year’s First Special Session and this summer’s creation of the Special House Interim Committee on Property Tax Reform, and the State Tax Commission’s issuance of MOUs to eighty-eight counties directing them to raise property tax valuations – a move resisted by at least fourteen counties – has placed the State Tax Commission (https://stc.mo.gov/) in the spotlight.
The State Tax Commission, responsible for ensuring the uniform and equitable assessment of taxable, measures the accuracy of county assessments, hears taxpayer appeals, and assesses the property of railroads, airlines, pipelines, electric, and telecommunication companies.
Composed of three commissioners appointed to staggered six-year terms by the Governor, the Commission also employed a large staff of appraisers, technicians, and hearing officers. The current commissioners include Chair Gary Romine, Commissioner Debbi McGinnis, and Commissioner Greg Razer.
While state law requires that property tax assessment be based on fair market value, resistance to the Commission’s “state control” over local assessment and individual appeals to assessment increases demonstrate discontent over tax increases driven by a rise in property values. Such appeals may occur in three stages: informally, when a property owner discusses an assessment with his or her county assessor; by appealing the assessor’s decision to the Board of Equalization; and, finally, by appealing to the Commission.
Any changes to existing property tax laws will also affect Missouri’s school funding formula. Coupled with recent property tax debates and Governor Kehoe’s creation of the Missouri School Funding Modernization Task Force, the issue of property taxes, including the Commission’s statewide role in local assessments, counties’ rights to push back on the Commission, and the interplay between taxes and schools and services, promises to be at the forefront of debate as we head into 2026.
Our firm has decades of combined experience in advising clients on tax issues before Missouri’s legislative and executive branches. If you have questions about the Commission, Missouri’s current property tax outlook, or any of the issues discussed in this post, please contact us.