AARP Missouri Advocating for Property Tax Credit Boost

For Catherine Woolridge, 68, the state’s property tax credit provides a small financial cushion, allowing her to buy some extra groceries and other necessities.

Woolridge’s credit last year was just over $700. “Every little bit helps when living on a limited income,” says the former journalist from St. Joseph who has been visually impaired since birth.

That little bit could grow under a proposal to increase the amount of the credit for low-income older adults and individuals with disabilities.

The Missouri Property Tax Credit provides up to $1,100 annually to homeowners and up to $750 to renters. But those amounts, as well as the income limits to qualify for the credit, haven’t changed since 2008—despite rising inflation, property taxes and rent.

That’s why AARP Missouri and other advocates are calling on state lawmakers to raise the maximum tax credit amount by about 40 percent, to $1,550 for homeowners and $1,055 for renters, as well as increase the income limits of who can qualify.

Many older Missourians living on fixed incomes have lost eligibility for the credit, also known as the “circuit breaker” credit, simply because of cost-of-living increases in Social Security payments, says Julie Peetz, executive director of the Missouri Association of Area Agencies on Aging.

Fewer and fewer residents are able to access the credit, and more and more need it, Peetz says.

Missourians filed 145,146 property tax credit claims in fiscal 2023—down nearly 42 percent from a decade earlier, even as the number of older adults in the state rose, according to data provided by the Missouri Budget Project, which conducts research on state budget, tax and economic issues.

The total amount of the refunds for those credits has also declined in recent years, says Lindsey Baker, the nonprofit’s research director. Adjusting for inflation, credits in fiscal 2023 totaled $76.1 million, down from nearly $139 million in fiscal 2014.

To be eligible for the credit, recipients must be 65 or over, an adult under 65 who is 100-percent disabled or someone 60 and older who is receiving Social Security surviving spouse benefits. The income limit to qualify for homeowners is $30,000 for a single person and $34,000 for a married couple, while the limit for renters is $27,200 for an individual and $29,200 for a couple.

In addition to increasing the maximum tax credit, the Missouri Budget Project wants the General Assembly to increase the income limits for homeowners and renters by roughly 40 percent.

Taking action

AARP Missouri is supporting legislation that would increase the amount of both the credit and the income limit to qualify; incorporate annual adjustments to keep up with inflation; and create a more gradual reduction in the size of the credit as people near the income limit.

Previous bipartisan bills to update the tax credit haven’t made it across the finish line, but Jay Hardenbrook, AARP Missouri’s advocacy director, says support has been building. “I think a lot of people are going to be ready to act on it,” Hardenbrook says.

State Rep. Mike McGirl (R), who represents Franklin and Washington counties, plans to reintroduce a bill to raise income limits and the credit amount. McGirl, who has a private accounting practice in Potosi, sees the need for the update among his own tax clients. “So many people’s Social Security ... puts them above the threshold,” he says.

State Sen. Tracy McCreery (D-St. Louis County) will also reintroduce a bill that would increase the maximum tax credit and income limits and adjust those cutoffs annually for inflation.

The credit can have a significant impact for people with low incomes and no savings, says Mary Jo Fletchall, chief financial officer of Young at Heart Resources, an Area Agency on Aging in northwest Missouri.

Fletchall recalls helping an Army veteran who was widowed and living alone. The woman owed nearly $4,000 in unpaid property taxes and was about to lose her home. Fletchall helped her file for multiple years of tax credits, which allowed her to pay the back taxes.

“It was a godsend,” Fletchall says. “It changed her life.”

Hilary Appelman, a Pennsylvania-based writer, covers long-term care and other issues. She has written for the Bulletin since 2011.

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