A northeast Missouri Republican lawmaker is sponsoring legislation intended to provide tax relief to Missourians.

The bill from State Rep. Louis Riggs, R-Hannibal, would provide an income tax deduction for every dollar paid in personal property tax. He admitted it would cost the state around $100 million in revenues.

“If folks who are paying Missouri taxes were able to take a dollar-for-dollar deduction, what they pay in terms of personal property off their Missouri 1040, the cost savings are considerable. Now, would everybody qualify? Don’t know, I’m not a tax preparer,” said Riggs. “But the folks I talked to, lots of them out there, are looking for some measure of relief from these personal property taxes.”

Riggs said that the state needs to take a ‘deep dive’ into what goes into the annual Fiscal Year budget and determine what jobs aren’t being filled.

“These aren’t ghost employees,” he said. “These are just positions that have not been filled for a long time and that will not be for the foreseeable future. Why budget for that?”

Historically, many unfilled state worker jobs have been cut to free up state budget dollars for other priorities.

Riggs also said performance audits across all state departments would help to evaluate what is and isn’t needed.

“I’m in favor of any tax relief for Missouri taxpayers,” he said. “Frankly, you know, any person should be able to spend their money on what they would like as opposed to having it sucked up, sent to Jefferson City, and sent Lord knows where.”

HB 859 could be heard before a committee in the near future.

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