Rep. Day Introduces Legislation to Provide
Property Tax Relief to Missouri Timber Industry
Jefferson City – Representative David Day, R-Dixon, pre-filed legislation this week to provide much-needed property tax relief to a Missouri timber industry struggling with the current economic downturn.
Rep. Day’s bill, HB 1207, would classify sawmills and planing mills the same as agricultural and horticultural property for the purpose of property tax assessments. The simple change could mean substantial savings for mill owners as agricultural property is assessed at only 12 percent of its market value. Currently, mills are classified as commercial property that is assessed at 32 percent of market value.
“The timber industry in Missouri is a large part of our economy and it has been hit hard by the lack of new home construction. While we are limited at the state level with what we can do to revitalize the housing market, we can provide tax relief that will allow mill owners to keep more of their hard-earned dollars. This legislation will help keep the mills open, keep people working, and frankly, because they are an agriculture industry it is something that should have been done years ago,” said Rep. Day. “I am hopeful we can pass this legislation during this session and give our struggling timber industry a financial boost that could make a difference during these challenging times.”
During the last session Rep. Day was able to include this legislation in another bill that reached the Governor’s desk. However the legislation was vetoed because of other provisions that were in the bill. “According to what the Governor’s Office has told me, they had no problem with the portion of the bill that pertained to sawmills, it was other portions of the larger bill that they had concerns about. I am hopeful that we can get this legislation back to the Governor and he will be able to sign it into law this time” Day concluded.
Rep. Day’s legislation had 26 co-sponsors. According to a recent study completed by the Department of Economic Development, the timber industry has more than a 4 billion dollar impact on Missouri’s economy.