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SECOND REGULAR SESSION
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 117
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR BROWN (26).
6873S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
JOINT RESOLUTION
Submitting to the qualified voters of Missouri, an amendment to article X of the Constitution of
Missouri, by adding thereto one new section relating to state revenue.
Be it resolved by the Senate, the House of Representatives concurring therein:
That at the next general election to be held in the 1
state of Missouri, on Tuesday next following the first Monday 2
in November, 2026, or at a special election to be called by 3
the governor for that purpose, there is hereby submitted to 4
the qualified voters of this state, for adoption or 5
rejection, the following amendment to article X of the 6
Constitution of the state of Missouri:7
Section A. Article X, Constitution of Missouri, is amended 1
by adding thereto one new section, to be known as section 20(a), 2
to read as follows:3
Section 20(a). 1. This section shall be known and may 1
be cited as the "Taxpayer Protection Act". 2
2. This section takes effect January 1, 2027, or as 3
stated. All provisions are self-executing, severable, and 4
supersede conflicting provisions of this Constitution, 5
general law, or other state or local provisions, but 6
otherwise, the provisions of this section shall be in 7
addition to the limits, requirements, and other provisions 8
of Sections 16 to 24 of this Article. Other limits on 9
district revenue, spending, and debt shall only be modified 10
by future voter approval. Individual or class action 11
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enforcement suits may be filed and shall have the highest 12
civil priority of resolution. Successful plaintiffs are 13
allowed costs and reasonable attorney's fees. A district 14
shall not be allowed costs and reasonable attorney's fees 15
unless a suit against it is ruled frivolous. Revenue 16
collected, kept, or spent illegally since four full fiscal 17
years before a suit is filed shall be refunded with ten 18
percent annual simple interest from the initial conduct. 19
Subject to judicial review, districts may use any reasonable 20
method for refunds under this section, including temporary 21
tax credits or rate reductions. Refunds need not be 22
proportional when prior payments are impractical to identify 23
or return. When annual district revenue is less than annual 24
payments on general obligation bonds, pensions, and final 25
court judgments, subdivision (1) of subsection 5 and 26
subsection 8 of this section shall be suspended to provide 27
for the deficiency. 28
3. As used in this section, the following terms mean: 29
(1) "Ballot issue", a nonrecall petition or referred 30
measure in an election; 31
(2) "District", the state or any local government 32
district but shall exclude enterprises; 33
(3) "Emergency", an extraordinary event or occurrence 34
that could not have been reasonably foreseen or prevented 35
and that requires immediate expenditure or appropriation of 36
moneys to preserve the health, safety, and general welfare 37
of the people, but excludes economic conditions, revenue 38
shortfalls, and district salary or fringe benefit increases; 39
(4) "Enterprise", a government-owned business 40
authorized to issue its own revenue bonds and receiving 41
under ten percent of annual revenue in grants from all state 42
and local governments combined; 43
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(5) "Fiscal year spending", all district expenditures 44
and reserve increases except, as to both, those for refunds 45
made in the current or next fiscal year; those from gifts, 46
federal funds, collections for another government, pension 47
contributions by employees and pension fund earnings, 48
reserve transfers or expenditures, damage awards, or 49
property sales; those originally deposited into the general 50
revenue fund but designated by law for a specific 51
distribution or transfer to another state fund as reported 52
by the office of administration; or those revenues and 53
expenditures of such revenues excluded from the calculation 54
of total state revenues under Sections 17, 18, and 18(e) of 55
this Article and not included as an expense of state 56
government under Section 20 of this Article; 57
(6) "Inflation", the percentage change in the general 58
price level as such term is defined under Section 17 of this 59
Article; 60
(7) "Local government district", a county or other 61
political subdivision as such term is defined under Section 62
15 of this Article; 63
(8) "Local growth", for a nonschool district, a net 64
percentage change in actual value of all real property in a 65
district from construction of taxable real property 66
improvements, minus destruction of similar improvements, and 67
additions to, minus deletions from, taxable real property. 68
For a school district, it means the percentage change in its 69
student enrollment. 70
4. (1) Ballot issues brought under the requirements 71
of this section shall be decided in a regularly scheduled 72
state general election, general municipal election or other 73
general local district election, or on the first Tuesday 74
after the first Monday in November of odd-numbered years. 75
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Except for petitions, bonded debt, or charter or 76
constitutional provisions, districts may consolidate ballot 77
issues and voters may approve a delay of up to four years in 78
voting on ballot issues. District actions taken during such 79
a delay shall not extend beyond that period. 80
(2) At least thirty days before a ballot issue 81
election brought under the requirements of this section, 82
districts shall mail at the least cost, and as a package 83
where districts with ballot issues overlap, a title notice 84
or set of notices addressed to "All Registered Voters" at 85
each address of one or more active registered electors. The 86
districts may coordinate the mailing required by this 87
subsection with the distribution of any other mailed ballot 88
information in order to save mailing costs. Titles shall 89
have this order of preference: "NOTICE OF ELECTION TO 90
INCREASE TAXES/TO INCREASE DEBT/ON A CITIZEN PETITION ON A 91
REFERRED MEASURE.". Except for district voter-approved 92
additions, and in addition to any other requirements for 93
ballot measures under this Constitution or by general law, 94
notices shall include only: 95
(a) The election date, hours, ballot title, text, and 96
local election office address and telephone number; 97
(b) For proposed district tax or bonded debt 98
increases, the estimated or actual total of district fiscal 99
year spending for the current year and each of the past four 100
years, and the overall percentage and dollar change; 101
(c) For the first full fiscal year of each proposed 102
district tax increase, district estimates of the maximum 103
dollar amount of each increase and of district fiscal year 104
spending without the increase; 105
(d) For proposed district bonded debt, its principal 106
amount and maximum annual and total district repayment cost, 107
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and the principal balance of total current district bonded 108
debt and its maximum annual and remaining total district 109
repayment cost; and 110
(e) Two summaries, up to five hundred words each, one 111
for and one against the proposal, of written comments filed 112
with the election officer by forty-five days before the 113
election. No summary shall mention names of persons or 114
private groups, nor any endorsements of or resolutions 115
against the proposal. Petition representatives following 116
these rules shall write this summary for their petition. 117
The election officer shall maintain and accurately summarize 118
all other relevant written comments. The provisions of this 119
paragraph do not apply to a statewide ballot issue brought 120
under the provisions of this section. 121
(3) Except by later voter approval, if a tax increase 122
or fiscal year spending exceeds any estimate under paragraph 123
(c) of subdivision (2) of this subsection for the same 124
fiscal year, the tax increase is thereafter reduced up to 125
one hundred percent in proportion to the combined dollar 126
excess, and the combined excess revenue refunded in the next 127
fiscal year. District bonded debt shall not issue on terms 128
that could exceed its share of its maximum repayment costs 129
in paragraph (d) of subdivision (2) of this subsection. 130
Ballot titles for tax or bonded debt increases shall begin: 131
"Shall (district) taxes be increased (first, or 132
if phased in, final, fiscal year dollar 133
increase) annually...?" or "Shall (district) 134
debt be increased (principal amount), with a 135
repayment cost of (maximum total district cost), 136
...?". 137
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5. Beginning on and after the effective date of this 138
section, districts shall be required to have voter approval 139
in advance for: 140
(1) Unless subsection 2 or subsection 7 of this 141
section applies, any new tax, tax rate increase, mill levy 142
above the rate for the prior year, valuation for assessment 143
ratio increase for a property class, extension of an 144
expiring tax, or a tax policy change directly causing a net 145
tax revenue gain to any district; and 146
(2) Except for refinancing district bonded debt at a 147
lower interest rate or adding new employees to existing 148
district pension plans, creation of any multiple fiscal year 149
direct or indirect district debt or other financial 150
obligation whatsoever without adequate present cash reserves 151
pledged irrevocably and held for payments in all future 152
fiscal years. 153
6. To use only for declared emergencies, each district 154
shall reserve for fiscal year 2028 one percent or more, for 155
fiscal year 2029 two percent or more, and for all later 156
years three percent or more of its fiscal year spending 157
excluding bonded debt service. Unused reserves apply to the 158
next year's reserve. 159
7. This subsection grants no new taxing power. 160
Emergency property taxes are prohibited. Emergency tax 161
revenue is excluded for purposes of subdivision (3) of 162
subsection 4 and subsection 8 of this section, even if later 163
ratified by voters. Emergency taxes shall also meet all of 164
the following conditions: 165
(1) A two-thirds majority of the members of each 166
chamber of the general assembly or of a local district 167
governing body declares the emergency and imposes the tax by 168
separate recorded roll call votes; 169
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(2) Emergency tax revenue shall be spent only after 170
emergency reserves are depleted, and shall be refunded 171
within one hundred eighty days after the emergency ends if 172
not spent on the emergency; and 173
(3) A tax not approved on the next election date sixty 174
days or more after the declaration shall end with that 175
election month. 176
8. (1) The maximum annual percentage change in state 177
fiscal year spending equals inflation plus the percentage 178
change in state population in the prior calendar year 179
adjusted for any revenue changes approved by voters after 180
the effective date of this section. Population shall be 181
determined by annual federal census estimates and such 182
number shall be adjusted every decade to match the federal 183
census. 184
(2) The maximum annual percentage change in each local 185
district's fiscal year spending equals inflation in the 186
prior calendar year plus annual local growth adjusted for 187
any revenue changes approved by voters after the effective 188
date of this section and reductions under subsections 8 and 189
9 of this section. 190
(3) The maximum annual percentage change in each local 191
district's property tax revenue equals inflation in the 192
prior calendar year plus annual local growth, adjusted for 193
property tax revenue changes approved by voters after the 194
effective date of this section and reductions under 195
subdivision (2) of subsection 9 and subsection 10 of this 196
section. 197
(4) If revenue from sources not excluded from fiscal 198
year spending exceeds these limits in dollars for that 199
fiscal year, the excess shall be refunded in the next fiscal 200
year unless voters approve a revenue change as an offset. 201
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Initial district bases are current fiscal year spending and 202
property tax collected for tax year 2025. Qualification or 203
disqualification as an enterprise shall change district 204
bases and future year limits. Future creation of district 205
bonded debt shall increase, and retiring or refinancing 206
district bonded debt shall lower fiscal year spending and 207
property tax revenue by the annual debt service so funded. 208
Debt service changes, reductions, refunds under subsection 2 209
and subdivision (3) of subsection 4 of this section, and 210
voter-approved revenue changes are dollar amounts that are 211
exceptions to, and not part of, any district base. Voter- 212
approved revenue changes do not require a tax rate change. 213
9. (1) New or increased transfer tax rates on real 214
property are prohibited. No new state real property tax or 215
local district income tax shall be imposed. Neither an 216
income tax rate increase nor a new state definition of 217
taxable income shall apply before the next tax year. 218
(2) Each district may enact cumulative uniform 219
exemptions and credits to reduce or end business personal 220
property taxes. 221
(3) Regardless of reassessment frequency, valuation 222
notices shall be mailed annually and may be appealed 223
annually, with no presumption in favor of any pending 224
valuation. Past or future sales by a lender or government 225
shall also be considered as comparable market sales and 226
their sales prices kept as public records. Actual value 227
shall be stated on all property tax bills and valuation 228
notices and, for residential real property, determined 229
solely by the market approach to appraisal. 230
10. Except for public education through grade twelve 231
or as required of a local district by federal law, a local 232
district may reduce or end its subsidy to any program 233
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delegated to it by the general assembly for administration. 234
For current programs, the state may require ninety days 235
notice and that the adjustment occur in a maximum of three 236
equal annual installments. 237
11. The general assembly may enact such laws as may be 238
necessary to implement the provisions of this section. 239
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