WARRENSBURG – Every day, Johnson County Board of Services executive director Melissa Frey steps into her office at the JCBS headquarters to serve the 348 clients in Johnson County with developmental disabilities currently on the agency’s roster.
Founded in 1978 by a group of concerned parents in need of services for their children, JCBS has evolved from a sheltered workshop into a full-scale agency that offers aid to people of all ages with disabilities.
With the use of tax-payer funds, Frey said JCBS helps their clients find employment, connects clients with opportunities to engage with the community and provides support to people who would otherwise go without.
“In 2025, we got a little over $1 million in tax levy funding, which then goes out to support programs and services for people with developmental disabilities,” Frey said. “The largest service organization that we fund is Rise Community Services. They still own and operate the sheltered workshops in Johnson County.”
Frey said RCS also provides day services and residential services to its clients while being the largest transportation services provider for folks with disabilities in the county.
“A lot of our folks don’t have driver’s licenses, they can’t get to and from work,” Frey said. “So, it’s really important that Rise continues to provide those services.”
These and other services JCBS helps to coordinate for people with disabilities, Frey said, are at risk of being slashed this election cycle with the addition of Senate Bill 3 to the April 7 municipal election ballot.
Enacted in a Missouri state legislature special session in 2025, SB 3 requires certain counties across the state to ask its voters if a property tax credit should be granted to property owners residing in each county starting in 2027. Unlike Senate Bill 190, which gave a property tax break to senior citizens over the age of 62 last year, SB 3 would apply to property owners of all ages.
The question reads, “Shall the County of Johnson exempt eligible taxpayers from certain tax increases on eligible taxpayers’ primary residence above the liability incurred during the initial credit year?”
“It basically expands what we already have from the senior tax credit to residential real estate property owners on their primary residence,” said County Clerk Diane Thompson. “So, if you own a home and five rental properties, you can get the credit on your home, but you can’t get the credit on the rental properties.”
Along with commercial property exemptions, Thompson said SB 3 lists multiple other instances where the credit would not be applied. These include agricultural properties, construction add-ons and home improvement projects, annexation into a new taxing area and levies related to voter-approved bond indebtedness from taxing entities.
“It is designed to cap your real estate tax at the 2024 amount,” Thompson said. “A lot of the legislators that are promoting this question are calling it a freeze and it is not.”
Another misconception with the bill, Thompson said, lies in the fact that many taxpayers think voting to approve a tax credit for property owners would take away tax bills completely, which she said is not the case.
“We saw this with the senior tax credit– people came in and they applied for that credit in April and got a bill in November and they went into the collector’s office and they were like, ‘Why do I have this tax bill?’” Thompson said. “You will still get a tax bill. You will still likely see a small increase because … if this passes and this goes into effect, and two years from now a new tax levy goes on the ballot and gets passed, you’re going to be assessed for that new tax. It doesn’t get locked in at (the) 2024 (rate), regardless of what the legislature tells us.”
Though individual tax payers could see a credit on their tax bill at the end of the year if SB 3 were to pass the ballot in April’s election, Johnson County Presiding Commissioner Troy Matthews said it wouldn’t amount to much.
“They’re only saving (when) taxes go up. If taxes don’t go up, they don’t save a lick,” Matthews said. “With the senior tax credit, the average person saved between $80 and $120.”
This small credit for individual tax payers, Matthews said, could have big fiscal impacts on taxing districts in the county that rely on property tax funds to provide important services to the community. JCBS, Johnson County school districts, the Johnson County Fire Protection District, the Johnson County Ambulance District– because these agencies are required by law to cap their taxed earnings at a rate that does not exceed the state’s total personal income, these districts could see a dip in funding if SB 3 passed.
“There’s going to be services cut,” Matthews said. “You know, it’s going to affect the ambulance district, the library, the fire district, everybody.”
As the largest consumer of property taxes in the county, administrative staff at the Warrensburg R-VI School District are preparing for drastic cuts in funding for teaching positions, student programs and more. If this bill passes, Assistant Superintendent Troy Marnholtz said the school district could see millions of dollars in revenue-loss.
“So, a three-year number, from 2027 through 2029 (is) $5.2 million of lost revenue if we assume that everybody’s house is going to increase in value,” Marnholtz said. “So, their houses are going to increase in value, but we’re not going to recoup any of the increase because (the tax rate) is going to be set at the 2024 tax year.”
This loss in revenue, Superintendent Steve Ritter said, could impact more than just teachers and students in the district now– Ritter said this loss could impact the success of the district in the long-term.
“This is a community fund and people will have an opportunity to use their vote to decide the future of these community groups. For some, it could be devastating,” Ritter said. “The (school) district’s not going to close because of this, but … unfortunately, we could be in a spot where we have to pay for less people, which means less programs and less opportunities for our students.”
It’s this loss of opportunity for people who are already given so few chances to participate in the world around them that Frey said she is the most concerned about when she considers how the passing of SB 3 could impact JCBS.
For Frey, the work she and her team do at JCBS is more than just providing services to folks with disabilities– it’s providing pathways for these individuals to live the joyful and fulfilling lives they deserve.
“It goes without saying that they’re people too. You know, we all want to be part of our community. We all want to live and work and (stay) connected,” Frey said. “I think it’s just important for us to continue the momentum of inclusion– (to) really (make) sure everyone can be a part of their community.”
Though Matthews acknowledged the appeal of a tax break, especially in the current economy, he said folks headed to the ballot box should consider how their vote impacts not just their own households, but that of their neighbors’.
“The ballot language will ask the voter if they want their taxes to go down, and who doesn’t want their taxes to go down?” Matthews said. “They have to understand the ramifications– if your taxes go down, your services go down, too. No district– whether it’s the school, or ambulance, or library– can pull a rabbit out of their hat. They just can’t do it.”
Hasina Shah can be reached at 660-747-8123.
