HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 138 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE LUCAS.
4923H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
JOINT RESOLUTION Submitting to the qualified voters of Missouri an amendment repealing Section 6 of Article X of the Constitution of Missouri, and adopting one new section in lieu thereof relating to a property tax exemption for disabled veterans.
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring therein:
That at the next general election to be held in the state of Missouri, on Tuesday next 2 following the first Monday in November, 2026, or at a special election to be called by the 3 governor for that purpose, there is hereby submitted to the qualified voters of this state, for 4 adoption or rejection, the following amendment to Article X of the Constitution of the state of 5 Missouri: Section A. Section 6, Article X, Constitution of Missouri, is repealed and one new 2 section adopted in lieu thereof, to be known as Section 6, to read as follows: Section 6. 1. (1) As used in this subsection, the following terms mean: 2 (a) "Disabled veteran", an individual who: 3 a. Is a resident of this state; 4 b. Has been separated under honorable conditions from active service in: 5 (i) Any branch of the Armed Forces of the United States; 6 (ii) Any reserve component of the Armed Forces of the United States; 7 (iii) The National Guard as defined in 32 U.S.C. Section 101, as amended; or 8 (iv) Any defense force of this state as described in 32 U.S.C. Section 109, as 9 amended; and
EXPLANATION — Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is not enacted and is intended to be omitted from the law. Matter in bold-face type in the above bill is proposed language. HJR 138 2
10 c. Has been certified by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs or its 11 successor agency to be in receipt of disability compensation at the one hundred percent 12 rate as a result of a service-connected disability claim allowed by the United States 13 Department of Veterans Affairs, with such disability being permanent and sustained 14 through military action or accident or resulting from disease contracted while in such 15 active service; 16 (b) "Surviving spouse", the living spouse of a deceased disabled veteran as 17 defined under this subdivision. 18 (2) All property, real and personal, of the state, counties and other political 19 subdivisions, and nonprofit cemeteries, [and] all real property used as a homestead as defined 20 by law of any citizen of this state who is a former prisoner of war, as defined by law[, and 21 who has a total service-connected disability], and all real property used as a homestead as 22 defined by law of any disabled veteran or of any surviving spouse of a deceased disabled 23 veteran, subject to the provisions of subdivision (3) of this subsection, shall be exempt 24 from taxation; all personal property held as industrial inventories, including raw materials, 25 work in progress and finished work on hand, by manufacturers and refiners, and all personal 26 property held as goods, wares, merchandise, stock in trade or inventory for resale by 27 distributors, wholesalers, or retail merchants or establishments shall be exempt from taxation; 28 and all property, real and personal, not held for private or corporate profit and used 29 exclusively for religious worship, for schools and colleges, for purposes purely charitable, for 30 agricultural and horticultural societies, or for veterans' organizations may be exempted from 31 taxation by general law. In addition to the above, household goods, furniture, wearing apparel 32 and articles of personal use and adornment owned and used by a person in his home or 33 dwelling place may be exempt from taxation by general law but any such law may provide for 34 approximate restitution to the respective political subdivisions of revenues lost by reason of 35 the exemption. All laws exempting from taxation property other than the property 36 enumerated in this article, shall be void. The provisions of this section exempting certain 37 personal property of manufacturers, refiners, distributors, wholesalers, and retail merchants 38 and establishments from taxation shall become effective, unless otherwise provided by law, in 39 each county on January 1 of the year in which that county completes its first general 40 reassessment as defined by law. 41 (3) If the disabled veteran dies, the surviving spouse shall continue to receive the 42 exemption authorized under this subsection, provided that the surviving spouse uses, 43 occupies, and maintains the real property that the disabled veteran was granted the 44 original exemption as his or her homestead and such property is not sold. If the 45 surviving spouse sells the homestead or relocates so that the real property is no longer 46 used as a homestead by the surviving spouse, the exemption shall expire. HJR 138 3
47 2. All revenues lost because of the exemption of certain personal property of 48 manufacturers, refiners, distributors, wholesalers, and retail merchants and establishments 49 shall be replaced to each taxing authority within a county from a countywide tax hereby 50 imposed on all property in subclass 3 of class 1 in each county. For the year in which the 51 exemption becomes effective, the county clerk shall calculate the total revenue lost by all 52 taxing authorities in the county and extend upon all property in subclass 3 of class 1 within 53 the county, a tax at the rate necessary to produce that amount. The rate of tax levied in each 54 county according to this subsection shall not be increased above the rate first imposed and 55 will stand levied at that rate unless later reduced according to the provisions of subsection 3. 56 The county collector shall disburse the proceeds according to the revenue lost by each taxing 57 authority because of the exemption of such property in that county. Restitution of the 58 revenues lost by any taxing district contained in more than one county shall be from the 59 several counties according to the revenue lost because of the exemption of property in each 60 county. Each year after the first year the replacement tax is imposed, the amount distributed 61 to each taxing authority in a county shall be increased or decreased by an amount equal to the 62 amount resulting from the change in that district's total assessed value of property in subclass 63 3 of class 1 at the countywide replacement tax rate. In order to implement the provisions of 64 this subsection, the limits set in section 11(b) of this article may be exceeded, without voter 65 approval, if necessary to allow each county listed in section 11(b) to comply with this 66 subsection. 67 3. Any increase in the tax rate imposed pursuant to subsection 2 of this section shall 68 be decreased if such decrease is approved by a majority of the voters of the county voting on 69 such decrease. A decrease in the increased tax rate imposed under subsection 2 of this section 70 may be submitted to the voters of a county by the governing body thereof upon its own order, 71 ordinance, or resolution and shall be submitted upon the petition of at least eight percent of 72 the qualified voters who voted in the immediately preceding gubernatorial election. 73 4. As used in this section, the terms "revenues lost" and "lost revenues" shall mean 74 that revenue which each taxing authority received from the imposition of a tangible personal 75 property tax on all personal property held as industrial inventories, including raw materials, 76 work in progress and finished work on hand, by manufacturers and refiners, and all personal 77 property held as goods, wares, merchandise, stock in trade or inventory for resale by 78 distributors, wholesalers, or retail merchants or establishments in the last full tax year 79 immediately preceding the effective date of the exemption from taxation granted for such 80 property under subsection 1 of this section, and which was no longer received after such 81 exemption became effective. ✔