Two years ago, the state of Missouri introduced a bill that allowed a freeze for property tax rates for senior citizens in participating counties.

Montgomery County was not one of those counties. So Montgomery City resident Phyllis Oliver decided to do something about it.

The 81-year-old created a petition on Feb. 18 to get signatures from residents who agree on having a freeze on property tax rates for senior citizens.

“I’ve been working with the state representative at Jefferson City,” Oliver said. “I already got the petition they sent me for what they used in Boone County. They said the wording is approved and it’s an approved form. All I need to do is to get 326 signatures from registered voters of Montgomery County.”

Oliver said if she gets all of the signatures, the property tax measure could get on the ballot for the general municipal election, which is scheduled for April 8.

“It’s important to get it on the ballot so we can vote on it to try to get it through so we’ll be eligible for it,” Oliver said. “That will save a lot of seniors who are struggling to make ends meet who don’t get much in their Social Security. A lot of them can’t even afford their medicine. They’re doing without medicine to buy their groceries. Look how expensive groceries are. Then, you got the big property tax bill that you get. It’s very stressful on seniors.”

In 2023, former Missouri Gov. Mike Parson signed Missouri Senate Bill 190, which would provide relief for senior residents who are dealing with escalating taxes on their real estate property. The next year, he signed Senate Bill 756, which brought clarity to Senate Bill 190. Senior citizens still have to pay taxes, but there would be no increase. Missouri senior residents ages 62 years or older are eligible for the tax freeze.

“I don’t even think that half of the seniors in Montgomery County are aware of that bill (190) because I didn’t know about it,” Oliver said. “It was voted in 2023. I just happened to run across it. I don’t remember where I saw it. So I started inquiring about it.”

Montgomery County Collector Anita Sullivan said in December that neighboring counties such as Warren, Callaway and St. Charles offer property tax credit for senior citizens.

“When the state reps first put it in the books, it was so vague that they had revisited it in the last session and they made some adjustments to it,” Sullivan said. “Now it’s a better law than it was when they first came out with it two years ago. That’s why a lot more counties are starting to do it now.”

Before Oliver created her petition, she attempted to get the measure on the ballot, but she wasn’t aware that the deadline was in December. Oliver said according to what she was told from state representatives, she still could get the measure on the ballot for the April election.

“My contact there in Jefferson City is checking that out to see if it’s indeed a fact,” Oliver said. “I do know one state representative who handles getting signatures on petitions. She got hers through ASAP. She had a special ballot made up for it. I’m hoping if we get all of the names and everything, we’ll get it on there sooner. That’s another whole year that the seniors have to wait. I’m told that we’re supposed to get our taxes increased this year.”

Oliver has been living in Montgomery County for 10 years. Born in Cairo, Ill., Oliver moved to the county when she was 14 years old and graduated from Montgomery County High School in 1961. She later got married and lived in Kansas for many years before moving back to the county in 2015.

“I moved back home because at that time, my dad was not doing well and I lost my mother,” Oliver said. “My sister was trying to take care of him and I moved back home to help her.”

Now, Oliver is trying to help out the senior citizens in Montgomery County.
“I’m going to fight for the seniors,” Oliver said.

For more information, call Oliver at 913-645-2201.