Although other taxes have proliferated in recent years, the property tax remains a mainstay of local government finance in Missouri. It provides a major source of revenue for most local governments, and will continue to be important to them. The property tax gives local taxpayers a measure of control over their local governments.
Local governments retain a greater measure of their autonomy when they can rely on property taxes.
This tax provides a relationship to services received, such as police and file protection and local streets, although it does so imperfectly. Everyone pays this tax, either directly or indirectly, and its revenues would be very difficult to replace from other revenue sources. More than 2,500 Missouri local governments rely on property taxes. The difference between those percentages is reflective of the tax rate increases adopted by local governments and their voters, and creation of some new local governments. In setting values, the assessor is bound by laws and rules designed to assure that assessments are as uniform as possible.