Missouri Tax Reform Package Targets Housing and Preservation Tax Credits

Marshall Griffin reports on a nascent legislative movement in Missouri that would restructure tax breaks around the city, including two important tax breaks in the realm of development.

According to Griffin, new Missouri Governor Eric Greitins has spent the first month of his administration pushing for tax reform, and the Missouri legislature is backing him up with several proposed bills.

One such bill, Senate Bill 285, would lower the cap for the state's low-income housing tax credit to $90 million by 2020. The state's historic preservation tax credit would be lowered from $140 million to $50 million. Other tax credits that would get trimmed significantly if the bill were approved: Affordable Housing and Neighborhood Assistance tax credits, the Infrastructure Tax Credit, the Neighborhood Preservation Tax Credit, and the Senior Citizens Property Tax Relief Credit. On the issue of that last credit, the bill summary reads: "This act modifies the Senior Citizens Property Tax Relief tax credit program by removing renters from eligibility, making the program applicable only to home owners."