HERMANN – Gasconade County voters in November will have a chance to adopt a property tax-break measure in case a broader tax-relief law adopted locally in April is ruled unconstitutional.

The Cole County Circuit Court today (Wednesday) is scheduled to hear arguments involving the law known as Senate Bill 3, which grants all homeowners a property tax break on their primary place of residence. SB 3, which was approved by the Missouri General Assembly this year after being tacked on to a larger bill aimed at giving tax breaks to the Kansas City Chief as a way to keep the football team in Missouri, is being challenged by many Missouri counties as being unconstitutional in that it treats counties differently regarding the allowable growth in property value assessments, the basis for local property tax revenue.

Just when the judge hearing the SB 3 will issue a ruling isn’t known. And, if the law is upheld, the ruling could be appealed taking even longer for a final decision to be made.

Meanwhile, the Gasconade County Commission Thursday morning agreed to place the question of SB 190 on the county’s Nov. 3 General Elections ballot. A formal order is expected to be adopted by the Commission later this month.

This law, adopted by the Missouri General Assembly two years ago, calls for a property tax break for homeowners 62 and older. Some counties, primarily those in urban areas, adopted SB 190 shortly after it was signed into law. At least some of those counties experienced big expenses in terms of the computer software needed and the staffing needed to put the program in place. Other counties, such as Gasconade County, were advised to hold putting in place the law until more was known about its effect not only on county governments but other local-government entities such as school districts, hospitals and other property tax-dependent government entities.

Cheryl Bohl spearheaded the petition drive to collect about 600 signatures that she presented Thursday morning to the Commission calling for a vote in November. To qualify for the ballot, Bohl needed to collect just under 400 valid signatures.

Bohl told the Commission that she talked with a representative of the Missouri State Tax Commission about the effect SB 3 might have on SB 190 — if SB 3 is upheld — and was given no firm opinion. That’s why it’s important that SB 190 be approved, as a fall-back measure to ensure a tax break for older homeowners.

Assessor Julia Baker applauded Bohl’s efforts at collecting the signatures in such a short amount of time.

“I think we got a pretty wide spectrum” of people to sign the petition, Bohl said.

Presiding Commissioner Tim Schulte, R-Hermann, offered the motion to put the question on the ballot if the qualifying number of signatures is verified by the County Clerk’s Office. That work isn’t likely to begin until after all the aspects of Tuesday’s Primary Elections have been settled. Local-government entities have until Aug. 25 to order items placed on the November ballot.

Motor Fuel Tax remains strong

In other matters at last week’s Commission session, County Treasurer Mike Feagan reported that the county’s Motor Fuel Tax reimbursement check from the Missouri Department of Revenue was one of the larger ones received this year. Indeed, at $83,964, the July check is the second-largest of the year behind the $86,324 received in May.

So far this year, the Motor Fuel Tax has generated $561,543 for Gasconade County. This year’s amount through the first seven months is running almost $38,000 ahead of the amount received during the same period last year. In 2025, the tax produced $937,801 for the county government, which allocates the money to the Road Department.