Personal Property Tax Plan

What are personal property taxes?

Definition: According to MO State Statute 137.075:

"Persons owning or holding tangible personal property on the 1st day of January shall be liable for taxes."

Personal property includes all motor vehicles, motorcycles, recreational vehicles, trailers, boats, motors, mobile homes, aircraft, farm machinery, livestock, and grain.
Assessments: In Missouri, most property is assessed at a rate of 33 1/3% of its market value as determined by the county assessor's office. This assessed value is then multiplied by local taxing rates, known as millage, for a final sum of taxes owed.
Example:
- If a vehicle is valued at $50,000, the taxable value would be $16,667. If the local tax rate is 5%, the annual tax owed would be $833.35 or $69.45 monthly. If assessed values increase by 20%, the new taxable value would be $20,000, resulting in an annual tax increase of $166.67.
In Missouri, assessors in most counties are elected officials, which holds them accountable to voters. However, in charter counties like Jackson, which saw a 24.35% increase in assessed valuations in 2023, the position of assessor is appointed rather than elected. The assessment process in many major counties in Missouri is largely detached from determining market values and instead, used to backfill county budgets. The process for appealing unfair property valuations is to file an appeal with the Board of Equalization and show up in a hearing to argue against the valuations, which many retired seniors and working families cannot do.

Why Get Rid of Personal Property Taxes?

Economic Relief: Personal Property Taxes are an unequal burden levied on taxpayers across Missouri during a time of high inflation and low economic growth. Missouri counties see a broad disparity of personal property tax increases due to independent Assessor's offices, who raise property tax rates far above the consumer price index (CPI), a commonly used metric to measure inflation rates, in an irresponsible manner. The figure below shows a map of adjusted assessed valuation increases by county in 2023:

Taken from Page 12 of the 2023 Property Tax Rates Report Commissioned by State Auditor Fitzpatrick. See Here >
Stimulate Economic Growth: Eliminating personal property taxes can boost Missouri's economy by encouraging both individuals and businesses to invest in new equipment, vehicles, and other essential assets without the burden of additional taxes.
Simplified Tax System: Reducing the number of taxes simplifies the tax system, eliminating December payment deadlines for taxes owed and reducing government bureaucracy across Missouri.

How do we replace revenues lost from eliminating personal property taxes?

State Budget Surpluses: Personal Property Tax revenues across Missouri municipalities totalled $1,860,873,865. Missouri. Cutting Personal Property Taxes in a responsible manner without increasing the State budget deficit can be done easily. Appropriations increased by $3.14 billion dollars from FY 2024 to FY 2024, while revenue collection stayed mostly flat. By removing pork projects from the budget, we have more than enough money to eliminate personal property tax WITHOUT increasing other taxes.

GR Summary Image — Taken from Page 38 of the FY 2025 executive Budget See Here >

Cut Pork Spending: Here are some of the items that we could have cut in order to fund the elimination of personal property taxes in 2023:

Seven U.S. States have already eliminated Personal Property Taxes:

Hawaii
Illinois
Iowa
New York
Ohio
Pennsylvania
South Dakota

It's time for Missouri to join this list!

JOIN THE FIGHT