States We Serve › Missouri
Missouri Property Tax
Missouri reassesses real estate every odd-numbered year, classifies property for assessment, and sets its appeal deadlines by county classification. The notes below are the ones we find ourselves explaining most often to owners with Missouri property.
At a glance
- Date of value
- January 1 of the tax year
- Reassessment cycle
- Every odd-numbered year (2025, 2027…). In even years only new construction and improvements are picked up. RSMo 137.115
- Assessment ratios — real estate
- Residential 19% · Agricultural 12% · Commercial, industrial and all other 32% RSMo 137.115
- Assessment ratios — personal property
- Business personal property and vehicles 33⅓% · Farm machinery 12% · Manufactured homes 19% · Historic vehicles and aircraft 5%
- Personal property declaration
- Due to the assessor by March 1; late filing penalties apply. RSMo 137.340
- Notice of increased value
- Assessors must notify owners of an increase in real estate value; in reassessment years notices generally go out in spring, no later than June 15. RSMo 137.180
- Board of Equalization appeal
- Deadline depends on county class — third Monday in June in first-class non-charter counties, second Monday in July in most others and in the charter counties, unless the board extends it. See below.
- State Tax Commission appeal
- September 30, or 30 days after the Board of Equalization decision, whichever is later. A BOE decision is required first. RSMo 138.430
- Tax bills
- Mailed in the fall after levies are certified (typically November).
- Taxes due
- December 31. Taxes under appeal must still be paid, under protest, to avoid penalty and interest. RSMo 139.031
- Sale price disclosure
- Missouri is a non-disclosure state; sale prices are not recorded on deeds.
The Missouri calendar
A typical reassessment year. Dates that fall on a weekend move to the next business day; boards may extend their own deadlines.
- Jan 1Date of value. Ownership and condition on this day control the whole tax year.
- Mar 1Business personal property declarations due.
- SpringReassessment notices mailed (odd years). Informal review with the assessor begins as soon as you have yours.
- Jun 15Last day for the assessor to send notices of increased value.
- 3rd Mon. JuneBoard of Equalization filing deadline — first-class non-charter counties (e.g. Greene, Boone, Cass).
- 2nd Mon. JulyBoard of Equalization filing deadline — all other counties, the charter counties (Jackson, St. Louis County, St. Charles, Clay, Jefferson) and the City of St. Louis.
- July–AugBoards of Equalization hear appeals.
- Sep 30State Tax Commission appeal deadline (or 30 days after the BOE decision, if later).
- Sep–OctLevies set and certified. Hancock rollbacks applied after reassessment.
- Dec 31Taxes due. Pay under protest if an appeal is pending.
How an appeal moves
Missouri is a three-step state, and you cannot skip a step. The question at every level is market value as of January 1 — not how high the bill is.
Informal review
Meet with the assessor’s office as soon as the notice arrives. Many corrections — wrong square footage, wrong class, double-counted improvements — are fixed here without a hearing.
Board of Equalization
File with the county clerk by the county’s deadline. The board hears the assessor’s evidence and yours and issues a written decision.
State Tax Commission
Appeal the BOE decision to the STC by September 30 or within 30 days of the decision. Hearings are before a hearing officer; the Commission can review.
Pay under protest
While any appeal is pending, pay the full bill by December 31 with a written protest. The disputed portion is impounded and refunded with interest if you prevail.
County classifications
Missouri groups its counties into classes by assessed valuation, and the class sets the Board of Equalization deadline and some procedures. Classifications are published by the Missouri Association of Counties; this is the May 2025 list.
Clay, Jackson, Jefferson, St. Charles, St. Louis
Boone, Buchanan, Camden, Cape Girardeau, Cass, Christian, Cole, Franklin, Greene, Jasper, Platte, St. Francois, Taney
Callaway, Lincoln, Newton
Johnson, Lafayette, Pettis, Saline
Class 3 (89)
Adair, Andrew, Atchison, Audrain, Barry, Barton, Bates, Benton, Bollinger, Butler, Caldwell, Carroll, Carter, Cedar, Chariton, Clark, Clinton, Cooper, Crawford, Dade, Dallas, Daviess, DeKalb, Dent, Douglas, Dunklin, Gasconade, Gentry, Grundy, Harrison, Henry, Hickory, Holt, Howard, Howell, Iron, Knox, Laclede, Lawrence, Lewis, Linn, Livingston, McDonald, Macon, Madison, Maries, Marion, Mercer, Miller, Mississippi, Moniteau, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, New Madrid, Nodaway, Oregon, Osage, Ozark, Pemiscot, Perry, Phelps, Pike, Polk, Pulaski, Putnam, Ralls, Randolph, Ray, Reynolds, Ripley, St. Clair, Ste. Genevieve, Schuyler, Scotland, Scott, Shannon, Shelby, Stoddard, Stone, Sullivan, Texas, Vernon, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Webster, Worth, Wright
Class 4 counties operate under the laws that govern Class 2 counties. Source: Missouri Association of Counties.
Laws worth knowing
Hancock Amendment
Missouri Constitution, Art. X §§18–24 (1980). Taxing districts cannot collect more revenue from a reassessment than inflation allows without a vote, so after a reassessment year levies are rolled back under RSMo 137.073. A higher value does not always mean a proportionally higher bill — but it does shift the burden toward whichever properties rose the most.
Subsidized housing — income approach required
RSMo 137.076 (House Bill 613, 2015). For property with federal or state rent restrictions — Section 42 LIHTC, HUD HOME, USDA Rural Development and similar programs — the assessor must use direct capitalization of the property’s actual net operating income, at a cap rate no higher than the county average, with tax credits and subsidies excluded. Assessors must also consider foreclosures and bank sales as “current market conditions.”
Paying under protest
RSMo 139.031. To keep an appeal alive you must pay the current bill in full and file a written protest with the collector at the time of payment, stating the grounds. Where the State Tax Commission has notified the collector of a pending appeal the disputed amount is impounded, but the written protest should still accompany the payment, and cities that collect their own tax must be protested separately.
Reassessment and the even year
RSMo 137.115. Real estate is revalued as of January 1 of each odd year. In the even year the value carries over; only new construction or improvements are added, valued as of the preceding January 1. A sale or a change in the market during an even year does not change that year’s assessment.
Exemptions
Art. X §6 and RSMo 137.100 exempt property used exclusively for religious worship, schools and colleges, purely charitable purposes, and agricultural or horticultural societies, when not held for private or corporate profit. A 501(c) determination does not by itself qualify a property — the use of the specific property is what is tested.
Assessor must consider prior decisions
RSMo 137.076.1 directs assessors, when valuing a parcel, to consider previous decisions of the Board of Equalization, the State Tax Commission or a court that affected that parcel’s value — a useful point when a value you won in one cycle reappears unchanged in the next.
Official resources
Missouri State Tax Commission — appeal forms, hearing procedures and decisions · RSMo Chapter 137 (assessment) and Chapter 138 (equalization and appeals) · Missouri Association of Counties — county classifications · Missouri State Assessors Association
This page is general information about Missouri property tax procedure, not legal advice. Deadlines and ratios change; confirm the current year’s dates with the county or with us before relying on them.
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