Boone County Commission candidate submits signatures to get senior tax issue on ballot

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A term-limited state lawmaker running for a seat on the Boone County Commission said Friday that she turned in nearly 5,000 petitions to the county clerk to put a measure freezing senior property tax on the ballot in 2025.

Cheri Toalson Reisch, a Republican being term-limited from her Missouri House seat after eight years, says in a news release that the all-Democrat commission put a limited measure on the ballot. The petition turned in Friday is for a full property tax freeze for all county seniors, Toalson Reisch says.

"Over the week of Memorial Day in May 2024, the Commission voted to pass a partial freeze knowing if they waited until after August 28th, the new law would mandate a full freeze," Toalson Reisch claims in the release.

Boone County Clerk Brianna Lennon says her office has not had time to count signatures yet but will begin work on verifying that they're from registered voters who live in Boone County. The number of valid signatures must equal at least 5% of the votes cast in the 2020 gubernatorial election.

If the signatures pass that threshold, Lennon said her office passes that information on to the county commission, which is then responsible for putting the measure on the ballot. The measure could not appear on a ballot until 2025.

Toalson Reisch is running against 12-year incumbent Janet Thompson to represent the county commission's Northern District in the Nov. 5 election.