Missouri Property Tax Exemption for a Totally Disabled Former Prisoner of War

Article X, section 6.1 of the Missouri Constitution, as amended November 2, 2010, exempts from taxation "all real property used as a homestead as defined by law of any citizen of this state who is a former prisoner of war, as defined by law, and who has a total service-connected disability." It is a full exemption of the homestead, not a reduction in value. The section says such a homestead "shall be exempt", unlike the exemptions later in the same sentence, which "may be exempted from taxation by general law". Three conditions, all of which apply. The owner must be a Missouri citizen; must be a former prisoner of war; and must have a total service-connected disability. The Constitution does not say "100 percent". VA pays at the total rate both on a 100 percent schedular rating and on individual unemployability, and the words "total service-connected disability" fit both, but no Missouri statute or appellate decision settles the point, and county forms tend to say 100 percent. "As defined by law." The Constitution leaves both "homestead" and "former prisoner of war" to be defined by law, and chapter 137 of the Revised Statutes, the assessment chapter, has no section implementing this exemption. Each county assessor therefore sets its own application and evidence. The St. Louis County Assessor's form, for example, asks for a notarised affirmation of occupancy, a VA letter showing total service-connected disability, and a DD-214 or a National Archives or VA letter showing prisoner of war status. Apply to the assessor of the county where the home is, or in the City of St. Louis to the City Assessor. A veteran who is totally disabled but was not a prisoner of war has no exemption; see the property tax credit entry for the circuit breaker route.