Platte County senior property tax freeze applications open

PLATTE COUNTY, Mo. — Some highly-anticipated relief is on the way for anyone 62 and older in Platte County.

Tuesday, applications opened for the Platte County Senior Citizens’ Real Property Tax Freeze Credit, locking in property taxes for people 62 and older based on when they apply and get approved.

One of the biggest budget lines for Platte County residents like Freda Rhodes is her property tax bill, which is why she went to the clerk’s office on the first day that applications were available.

“It’s probably a fourth or a little more of my yearly income,” Rhodes said. “It just took a severe jump one year and then another jump the next year and I began to be really antsy about it all.”

Those kinds of stories lead State Senator Tony Luetkemeyer to file Senate Bill 190 in 2023 to create the property tax freeze and Senate Bill 756 to expand the benefits to everyone 62 years and older, expanding and removing any doubt about who qualifies.

“This is important because we have a lot of people who don’t receive social security, maybe because they’re on a public pension, like public school teachers, firefighters, police officers,” Luetkemeyer said.

Applications opened Tuesday in Platte County and anyone who applies now would use the 2024 property taxes as their baseline for the 2025 property tax bill and all other bills after that for as long as they live in their home and keep applying every year.

“I had many seniors reach out to me back in 2022,” said Luetkemeyer. “Literally people in tears saying they felt like they would be taxed out of their home unless something was done.”

Seniors have until May 15, 2025, to apply for this first year. Starting next year, the application window will be between Oct.1 and Dec. 31.

You can find all the information for how to apply here.

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