The Warren County Collector’s office is still accepting applications for the senior tax credit up to 4:30 p.m. on Monday, June 30. 

The senior tax credit was first passed by the state legislature in 2023 with SB 190 and then amended with SB 756 in 2024. The Warren County Commissioners passed the local ordinance for the credit in August 2024 and applications have been open since March 3. 

Eligible seniors who apply will receive a tax credit covering the difference between their home’s 2024 and 2025 value, aside from the state tax portion or any tax related to bond indebtedness from a local taxing entity. 

To be eligible, seniors must have been 62 or older prior to Jan. 1, 2024 and declared the relevant property as their primary residence in Warren County prior to that date. Eligible seniors can apply for the tax credit at the Warren County Collector’s office on the first floor of the Warren County Administration Building. 

County Collector Julie Schaumberg said as of June 23, her office had successfully processed roughly 2,100 applications. 

“I think it’s been about the volume that we expected, pretty much,” said Schaumberg. “I do think it’s run smoothly. We have our days that are busier than others.”

Excluding specific cases, seniors only need their driver’s license to apply for the tax credit, which Schaumberg said applicants will see on their 2025 tax bill. Seniors are required to reapply for the credit annually to maintain 2024 as their base year for property valuations. 

She clarified that for seniors who are homebound, they can have a caretaker bring the application home for them and return it, although she said they will need the caretaker’s ID as well as the applicant’s for their records.

Outside of a driver’s license, the only other documentation she has required in some cases is trust paperwork when the name of the trust does not match with the name of the taxpayer. 

That paperwork can be retrieved at the county recorder of deed’s office on the second floor of the county administration building. 

In the case of married couples only one spouse needs to apply. 

When applying this year, applicants are establishing 2024 as the base year for their property valuation and will receive a tax credit based on the difference between the property’s reassessed value and its 2024 value. 

Property values are reassessed in every odd-numbered year in Missouri. 

“It still raises their assessment on their property, but we’ve been telling them that, basically, it’s the difference between their (2024) and their (2025) taxes, pulling out the state portion and the bond indebtedness,” said Schaumberg. 

Applicants who fail to reapply in subsequent years will see their property value increase to its current value and will have to reestablish their base year as the current year. 

Schaumberg said she was happy with how the process had gone in the credit’s first year and did not expect to make any changes moving forward. 

“We’ve had good feedback from the majority of our taxpayers that have been very happy with the process,” said Schaumberg. 

She said they would continue next year with the application window from March to June and noted applicants next year will have to have met all of the eligibility requirements prior to Jan. 1 2025. Those applicants will establish their property’s value in 2025 as their base year.