HERMANN — Gasconade County government officials face a limited amount of time to mount a campaign to inform voters of the impact of the state-mandated property tax relief proposal that will be on the April 7 General Municipal Elections ballot.

Research on the impact of Senate Bill 3 by County Assessor Julia Baker shows several local government subdivisions losing substantial amounts of property tax revenue in 2027, including Gasconade County R-1 and R-2 school districts and Hermann Area District Hospital.

Senate Bill 3, adopted during this year’s session of the Missouri General Assembly, would allow for a credit based on the property owner’s 2024 property tax bill regarding the taxpayer’s primary residence. The program is for property owners 62 years and older.

County officials point out that the individual credit for any taxpayer likely would be quite small, in some cases only a few dollars. But in the broader sense, the credit program would result in substantial loss of revenue for all property-tax supported agencies. Senate Bill 3 did not provide for a source to replace the lost property tax revenue.

“Some of our (political subdivision) districts are going to take a big hit,” Baker said during Thursday’s County Commission session.

Because the law treats Missouri’s 114 counties differently — some are allowed 5 percent growth in value while others are allowed no growth in values — county officials felt it would be challenged in court and declared unconstitutional. However, a legal challenge has not been made. State law calls for the tax credit proposal to be on the April ballot.

“We’ve got four months to educate as much as we can,” Baker said, referring to local districts’ efforts to inform voters of the impact of the potential revenue loss. Those districts can only offer information about the impact. Just as they can’t ask voters to approve a tax increase or a bond issue, they can’t ask voters to reject a ballot issue such as SB3. An outside organization using non-tax dollars, however, can advocate for passage or defeat of an issue.

According to the research conducted by Baker, the various property tax-dependent political subdivisions in Gasconade County would lose from a couple hundred dollars to more than a quarter-million dollars in 2027 if voters approve SB3 in the April vote. The total estimated revenue loss for all entities would be $647,416 without the 5-percent growth. Including the 5-percent growth cushion, the estimated loss would be $615,046.

Based on Baker’s analysis, here is what the various political subdivisions would lose in revenue in 2027:

City of Hermann – $5,844; City of Owensville – $9,268; City of Rosebud – $771; City of Gasconade – $354; City of Morrison – $219; State of Missouri – $3,921; Gasconade County – $19,163; C-1 Road District – $27,080; S-4 Road District – $392; Hermann Area District Hospital – $36,984; Gasconade R-1 School District – $170,351; Gasconade R-2 School District – $274,805; SB 40 (Sheltered Workshop) – $10,058; Gasconade County Health Department – $10,058; East Central College – $232; Gasconade Manor Nursing Home – $7,614; Maries County R-2 School District – $19,951; Osage County R-1 School District – $1,585; Osage County R-2 School District – $798; Phelps County R-1 School District – $1,597; Crawford County R-2 School District – $396; Franklin County R-16 School District – $2,315; Hermann Area Ambulance District – $1,374; Owensville Area Ambulance District – $7,253; Ozark Ambulance District – $1,881; Osage Ambulance District – $29; Gerald Ambulance District – $3,828; Gerald-Rosebud Fire Protection District – $4,221; New Haven-Berger Fire Protection District – $872; Bland Fire District – $1,632; Scenic Regional Library District – $14,130; Counseling Center – $8,437.