A crowd of between 50-60 county residents Friday night wanting to hear from the leading advocate of a proposed repeal of the state income tax left a bit disappointed after only hearing his voice briefly over the telephone with his comments focused on a petition drive to cut property taxes, not the ballot issue that would phase out the income tax.

Dennis Granahl, founder and chief executive officer of Mo Tax Relief Now, was unable to attend Friday night’s gathering sponsored by the Gasconade County Republican Club that featured a brief discussion on the Aug. 4 ballot issues, the petition drive aimed at putting Senate Bill 190 on the county’s Primary Elections ballot and a brief introduction by four candidates for two offices on that ballot.

Granahl is a leading proponent of Amendment 5, the measure that would phase out the state income tax and replace it with a sales tax primarily on professional services. In a recent interview with the Gasconade County Republican, Granahl said he was confident the sales tax would adequately make up for the projected $9 billion a year that would be lost through the elimination of the income tax. Many if not most of those attending Friday night’s meeting in the First State Community Bank’s Community Room appeared skeptical about that.

By the end of the gathering, several of those attending indicated they would not vote for the proposed amendment.

Rather than talking about Amendment 5, Granahl used his brief telephone conversation to talk about the petition drive aimed at gathering enough signatures to place Senate Bill 190 on the Aug. 4 ballot in Gasconade County. SB 190 is a law adopted three years ago by the Missouri General Assembly that would freeze property tax on the primary residential property of those 62 and older. The state legislature left it up to the various counties to implement the law — at their own cost — and many, including Gasconade County, did not put the tax break in place out of concern of the cost of implementing it.

That lack of action by this county’s administrators drew critical comments from Granahl during his phone call, referring several times to the Gasconade County Commission as the “County Council,” an understandable reference perhaps because Granahl is a resident of St. Louis County, which has a county council and not a county commission.

Granahl’s comments drew a response from Presiding Commissioner Tim Schulte, R-Hermann, Northern District Associate Commissioner Jim Holland, R-Hermann, and Southern District Associate Commissioner Ron Hardecke, R-Owensville, as to why the panel didn’t put SB 190 in place.

“We’ve been advised that until Senate Bill 3 (the updated version of a property tax-break law) has been ruled on by a judge, just leave it (SB 190) alone,” Schulte said. SB 3 is scheduled for a trial in Cole County later this month.

Holland disputed Granahl’s claim that the Commission said it was opposed to giving senior citizens a tax break.

“Not once have we said that,” Holland said, adding, “we’ve been advised by our legal counsel to do what we’re doing.”

Hardecke noted that the upcoming ruling on SB 3 will dictate the future of action on SB 190.

“I think once SB 3 passed, if it was to be enacted, SB 190 would become a moot point,” he said. SB 3 was approved in a countywide vote in April. It is scheduled to take effect in January if it’s upheld by the courts.

It’s the chance that it will be ruled unconstitutional that has Granahl and others pushing the petition for SB 190 — wanting the earlier version in place as a fallback measure.

“The bill is very clear,” Granahl told the crowd, noting that unlike SB 3, 190 has not been challenged in court.

Indeed,several counties, particularly those in more-urban areas, implemented the program and were soon meet with problems, including large expenses for the computer software and additional staff needed for the tax-break program.

Cheryl Bohl is heading up the petition effort locally. Supporters will need at least 395 valid signatures — 5 percent of the number of county voters in the past gubernatorial election — but that more than that will be sought, she said.

Because the Aug. 4 vote is so close, it’s unclear if there will be enough time for the County Clerk’s Office to verify the number of signatures needed to put the issue on the ballot. County Clerk Lesa Lietzow noted during a recent Commission session that she and her deputies are busy with all the different aspects of preparing for the upcoming vote, along with all the regular duties of the office.

Schulte urged those wanting a property tax break at the county level to be patient.

“Once SB3 is ruled on by the judge, I think you’ll see some action” on the local level, he said.

Briefly, SB 3 would go further than SB 190. While 190 applies to homeowners 62 and older, SB 3 applies to all homeowners who could apply for the break. Under 190, the assessment of the homeowner’s primary residence would be frozen in the year the tax-break application is approved. Under SB 3, the assessment on primary residences would be frozen at the 2024 amounts.