HJR 169

                                SECOND REGULAR SESSION
                                          [PERFECTED]
                         HOUSE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
                      HOUSE JOINT
                   RESOLUTION NO. 169
                          103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
6035H.02P  JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
                                 JOINT RESOLUTION
Submitting to the qualified voters of Missouri an amendment to Article X of the Constitution
      of Missouri, by adopting one new section relating to state revenue.
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. Article X, Constitution of Missouri, is amended by adopting one new
2 section, to be known as Section 20(a), to read as follows:
        Section 20(a). 1. This section shall be known and may be cited as the "Taxpayer
2 Protection Act".
32. This section takes effect January 1, 2027, or as stated. All provisions of this
4 section are self-executing, severable, and supersede conflicting provisions of this
5 Constitution, general law, or other state or local provisions, but otherwise, the
6 provisions of this section shall be in addition to the limits, requirements, and other
7 provisions of Sections 16 to 24 of this Article. Other limits on district revenue, spending,
8 and debt shall only be modified by future voter approval. Individual or class action
9 enforcement suits may be filed and shall have the highest civil priority of resolution.
10 Successful plaintiffs are allowed costs and reasonable attorney's fees. A district shall not
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.
HCS HJR 169  2
11 be allowed costs and reasonable attorney's fees unless a suit against it is ruled frivolous.
12 Revenue collected, kept, or spent illegally since four full fiscal years before a suit is filed
13 shall be refunded with ten percent annual simple interest from the initial conduct.
14 Subject to judicial review, districts may use any reasonable method for refunds under
15 this section, including temporary tax credits or rate reductions. Refunds need not be
16 proportional when prior payments are impractical to identify or return. When annual
17 district revenue is less than annual payments on general obligation bonds, pensions, and
18 final court judgments, subdivision (1) of subsection 5 and subsection 8 of this section
19 shall be suspended to provide for the deficiency.
203. As used in this section, the following terms mean:
21(1) "Ballot issue", a nonrecall petition or referred measure in an election;
22(2) "District", the state or any local district but shall exclude enterprises;
23(3) "Emergency", an extraordinary event or occurrence that could not have
24 been reasonably foreseen or prevented and that requires immediate expenditure or
25 appropriation of moneys to preserve the health, safety, and general welfare of the
26 people, but excludes economic conditions, revenue shortfalls, and district salary or
27 fringe benefit increases;
28(4) "Enterprise", a government-owned business authorized to issue its own
29 revenue bonds and receiving under ten percent of annual revenue in grants from all
30 state and local governments combined;
31(5) "Fiscal year spending", all district expenditures and reserve increases except,
32 as to both, those for refunds made in the current or next fiscal year; those from gifts,
33 federal funds, collections for another government, pension contributions by employees
34 and pension fund earnings, reserve transfers or expenditures, damage awards, or
35 property sales; those originally deposited into the general revenue fund but designated
36 by law for a specific distribution or transfer to another state fund as reported by the
37 office of administration; or those revenues and expenditures of such revenues excluded
38 from the calculation of total state revenues under Sections 17, 18, and 18(e) of this
39 Article and not included as an expense of state government under Section 20 of this
40 Article;
41(6) "Inflation", the percentage change in the general price level as such term is
42 defined under Section 17 of this Article;
43(7) "Local district", a county or other political subdivision as such term is
44 defined under Section 15 of this Article;
45(8) "Local growth", for a nonschool district, a net percentage change in actual
46 value of all real property in a district from construction of taxable real property
47 improvements, minus destruction of similar improvements, and additions to, minus
HCS HJR 169  3
48 deletions from, taxable real property. For a school district, it means the percentage
49 change in its student enrollment.
504. (1) Ballot issues brought under the requirements of this section shall be
51 decided in a regularly scheduled state general election, general municipal election or
52 other general local district election, or on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in
53 November of odd-numbered years. Except for petitions, bonded debt, or charter or
54 constitutional provisions, districts may consolidate ballot issues and voters may approve
55 a delay of up to four years in voting on ballot issues. District actions taken during such
56 a delay shall not extend beyond that period.
57(2) At least thirty days before a ballot issue election brought under the
58 requirements of this section, districts shall mail at the least cost, and as a package where
59 districts with ballot issues overlap, a title notice or set of notices addressed to "All
60 Registered Voters" at each address of one or more active registered electors. The
61 districts may coordinate the mailing required by this subdivision with the distribution of
62 any other mailed ballot information in order to save mailing costs. Titles shall have this
63 order of preference: "NOTICE OF ELECTION TO INCREASE TAXES/TO
64 INCREASE DEBT/ON A CITIZEN PETITION ON A REFERRED MEASURE.".
65 Except for district voter-approved additions, and in addition to any other requirements
66 for ballot measures under this Constitution or by general law, notices shall include only:
67(a) The election date, hours, ballot title, text, and local election office address and
68 telephone number;
69(b) For proposed district tax or bonded debt increases, the estimated or actual
70 total of district fiscal year spending for the current year and each of the past four years,
71 and the overall percentage and dollar change;
72(c) For the first full fiscal year of each proposed district tax increase, district
73 estimates of the maximum dollar amount of each increase and of district fiscal year
74 spending without the increase;
75(d) For proposed district bonded debt, its principal amount and maximum
76 annual and total district repayment cost, and the principal balance of total current
77 district bonded debt and its maximum annual and remaining total district repayment
78 cost; and
79(e) Two summaries, up to five hundred words each, one for and one against the
80 proposal, of written comments filed with the election officer by at least forty-five days
81 before the election. No summary shall mention names of persons or private groups, nor
82 any endorsements of or resolutions against the proposal. Petition representatives
83 following these rules shall write this summary for their petition. The election officer
84 shall maintain and accurately summarize all other relevant written comments. The
 HCS HJR 169  4
85 provisions of this paragraph do not apply to a statewide ballot issue brought under the
86 provisions of this section.
87(3) Except by later voter approval, if a tax increase or fiscal year spending
88 exceeds any estimate under paragraph (c) of subdivision (2) of this subsection for the
89 same fiscal year, the tax increase is thereafter reduced up to one hundred percent in
90 proportion to the combined dollar excess, and the combined excess revenue refunded in
91 the next fiscal year. District bonded debt shall not issue on terms that could exceed its
92 share of its maximum repayment costs in paragraph (d) of subdivision (2) of this
93 subsection. Ballot titles for tax or bonded debt increases shall begin:
94"Shall (district) taxes be increased (first, or if phased in, final, fiscal year dollar
95 increase) annually...?" or "Shall (district) debt be increased (principal amount), with a
96 repayment cost of (maximum total district cost), ...?".
975. Beginning on and after the effective date of this section, districts shall be
98 required to have voter approval in advance for:
99(1) Unless subsection 2 or subsection 7 of this section applies, any new tax, tax
100 rate increase, mill levy above the rate for the prior year, valuation for assessment ratio
101 increase for a property class, extension of an expiring tax, or a tax policy change directly
102 causing a net tax revenue gain to any district; and
103(2) Except for refinancing district bonded debt at a lower interest rate or adding
104 new employees to existing district pension plans, creation of any multiple fiscal year
105 direct or indirect district debt or other financial obligation whatsoever without adequate
106 present cash reserves pledged irrevocably and held for payments in all future fiscal
107 years.
1086. To use only for declared emergencies, each district shall reserve for fiscal year
109 2028, one percent or more; for fiscal year 2029, two percent or more; and for all later
110 years, three percent or more of its fiscal year spending excluding bonded debt service.
111 Unused reserves apply to the next year's reserve.
1127. This subsection grants no new taxing power. Emergency property taxes are
113 prohibited. Emergency tax revenue is excluded for purposes of subdivision (3) of
114 subsection 4 and subsection 8 of this section, even if later ratified by voters. Emergency
115 taxes shall also meet all of the following conditions:
116(1) A two-thirds majority of the members of each chamber of the general
117 assembly or of a local district governing body declares the emergency and imposes the
118 tax by separate recorded roll call votes;
119(2) Emergency tax revenue shall be spent only after emergency reserves are
120 depleted, and shall be refunded within one hundred eighty days after the emergency
121 ends if not spent on the emergency; and
 HCS HJR 169  5
122(3) A tax not approved in the next election sixty days or more after the
123 declaration shall end with that election month.
1248. (1) The maximum annual percentage change in state fiscal year spending
125 equals inflation plus the percentage change in state population in the prior calendar
126 year adjusted for any revenue changes approved by voters after the effective date of this
127 section. Population shall be determined by annual federal census estimates and such
128 number shall be adjusted every decade to match the federal census.
129(2) The maximum annual percentage change in each local district's fiscal year
130 spending equals inflation in the prior calendar year plus annual local growth adjusted
131 for any revenue changes approved by voters after the effective date of this section and
132 reductions under subdivision (2) of subsection 9 and subsection 10 of this section.
133(3) The maximum annual percentage change in each local district's property tax
134 revenue equals inflation in the prior calendar year plus annual local growth, adjusted
135 for property tax revenue changes approved by voters after the effective date of this
136 section and reductions under subdivision (2) of subsection 9 and subsection 10 of this
137 section.
138(4) If revenue from sources not excluded from fiscal year spending exceeds these
139 limits in dollars for that fiscal year, the excess shall be refunded in the next fiscal year
140 unless voters approve a revenue change as an offset. Initial district bases are current
141 fiscal year spending and property tax collected for tax year 2025. Qualification or
142 disqualification as an enterprise shall change district bases and future year limits.
143 Future creation of district bonded debt shall increase, and retiring or refinancing
144 district bonded debt shall lower fiscal year spending and property tax revenue by the
145 annual debt service so funded. Debt service changes, reductions, refunds under
146 subsection 2 and subdivision (3) of subsection 4 of this section, and voter-approved
147 revenue changes are dollar amounts that are exceptions to, and not part of, any district
148 base. Voter-approved revenue changes do not require a tax rate change.
149(5) Except as otherwise provided by law, additional surcharges and fees shall not
150 be implemented for the sole purpose of avoiding the limits under this section, and any
151 additional revenues from such sources shall be included in the calculation of the limit
152 imposed under this section unless otherwise excluded under the provisions of this
153 section.
154(6) Each local district that adopts or has adopted any tax abatement or similar
155 economic incentive authorized under state law shall add the amount of such abatement,
156 and any additional revenues derived from such abatement or incentive outside an area
157 subject to the abatement or incentive but within the larger local district, into such
 HCS HJR 169  6
158 district's revenue calculation. Only the local district adopting such abatement or
159 incentive shall be subject to the requirements of this subdivision.
1609. (1) New or increased transfer tax rates on real property are prohibited. No
161 new state real property tax or local district income tax shall be imposed. Neither an
162 income tax rate increase nor a new state definition of taxable income shall apply before
163 the next tax year.
164(2) Each district may enact cumulative uniform exemptions and credits to
165 reduce or end business personal property taxes.
166(3) Regardless of reassessment frequency, valuation notices shall be mailed
167 annually and may be appealed annually, with no presumption in favor of any pending
168 valuation. Past or future sales by a lender or government shall also be considered as
169 comparable market sales and their sales prices kept as public records. Actual value
170 shall be stated on all property tax bills and valuation notices and, for residential real
171 property, determined solely by the market approach to appraisal.
17210. Except for public education through grade twelve or as required of a local
173 district by federal law, a local district may reduce or end its subsidy to any program
174 delegated to it by the general assembly for administration. For current programs, the
175 state may require ninety days notice and that the adjustment occur in a maximum of
176 three equal annual installments.
17711. The general assembly may enact such laws as may be necessary to implement
178 the provisions of this section.
                                            ✔