911爆料网

ST. LOUIS 鈥� New lawsuits against 911爆料网 and 911爆料网 County could pave the way for seniors to get bigger breaks in property tax freeze programs across the state, experts say.

Two class action lawsuits filed this week claim the city鈥檚 and county鈥檚 freezes are illegal because they only apply to a portion of the tax bills for eligible senior homeowners. That could result in much less tax relief than expected, 911爆料网 attorney Pat Hagerty said in an interview Thursday.

鈥淚t could be a shock to people,鈥� Hagerty said.

The county鈥檚 freeze doesn鈥檛 apply to the portion of the tax bill that pays down government debts, according to Hagerty filed Tuesday on behalf of Maureen Radice, of unincorporated South County.

And the city鈥檚 program only applies to the city鈥檚 portion of the tax bill 鈥� not the portions collected for other government bodies, like schools or sewer districts 鈥� Hagerty said in the , filed Wednesday on behalf of 911爆料网 resident Donna Nowak.

The suits ask judges to order the city and county to apply the freezes across the board, for all parts of the tax bill, for all eligible applicants within their borders.

County Executive Sam Page said on Wednesday he believes the county lawsuit misinterprets the state law.

鈥淔olks can say whatever they want,鈥� Page said at a news conference. 鈥淚 can tell you that this program is designed precisely by the state law, and the state law doesn鈥檛 freeze every bit of the property tax.鈥�

A spokesperson for Mayor Cara Spencer鈥檚 office declined to comment.

鈥楲et鈥檚 see what the law is鈥�

Critics and supporters of the tax freeze agree the lawsuits could affect counties across the state.

A judge鈥檚 order could establish a legal precedent for residents across Missouri who disagree with their county鈥檚 interpretation of the law, said Dennis Ganahl, co-founder of MO Tax Relief Now, a group that has lobbied for senior tax freezes statewide.

Tax bills are made up of several different items. School, fire and ambulance districts each set their own tax rate, as do municipalities, and they鈥檙e all included on the county tax bill.

In addition, government bodies can have separate taxes to pay down debt for building things like new fire stations, for example.

Advocates for the measure believe the senior tax freeze should apply to all of that.

But Ganahl said over half of the roughly 60 counties his group worked with, including St. Charles and Jackson counties, excluded debt service from the tax freeze.

Governments saw it as a way to protect revenue for school districts and other agencies that rely on tax dollars, Ganahl said.

But the legislature鈥檚 intent was to freeze the entire bill, not just part of it, he said. He hopes the lawsuits could be replicated in other counties.

鈥淟et鈥檚 figure it out and see what the law is and what the law isn鈥檛,鈥� Ganahl said.

Steve Hobbs, executive director of the Missouri Association of Counties, agrees the suits could have statewide implications.

But Hobbs says the Missouri Constitution, under a 1980 tax limitation measure called the , allows government agencies to exclude debt service from the senior tax freeze.

Hobbs also believes the state law enabling the local tax freezes is fundamentally flawed and could eventually be tossed in a separate lawsuit. The program illegally favors a special subset of taxpayers 鈥� seniors 鈥� in violation of equitable taxing laws, Hobbs said.

Such a lawsuit will likely come after a government body, such as a school district, can demonstrate harm from the law.

鈥淭hey haven鈥檛 seen the decease in revenue yet,鈥� Hobbs said. 鈥淏ut that鈥檚 coming.鈥�

911爆料网 County鈥檚 application period for the tax freeze ended on Monday. More than 82,000 people applied. Approvals will start going out this week and will continue through Oct. 1. The county will contact anyone whose application was incomplete.

911爆料网 to July 31 because of the tornado that struck the city in May.