UPDATE (Oct. 8 at 1 p.m.) All judges in Platte County’s 6th Judicial Circuit were recused Oct. 8 from the lawsuit filed by Jason Maki and James Bosch against County Collector Sheila Palmer over the homestead property tax credit. The order, signed by Presiding Judge Myles A. Perry, removes the circuit’s judges from hearing the case but does not state a reason for the recusals or name a replacement judge.
A source tells The Landmark it is likely being transferred to another county because all Platte County judges would have a conflict of interest, being taxpayers themselves.
Jason Maki of Parkville and James Bosch of Edgerton filed a lawsuit Sept. 29 in Platte County Circuit Court asking a judge to order County Collector Sheila Palmer to apply the voter-approved homestead property tax credit to eligible homeowners’ 2026 tax bills.
The petition argues that delays in updating the county’s tax software do not justify postponing the credit until 2027. Maki and Bosch are seeking an order requiring Palmer to apply the credit, show its amount on this year’s tax statements and send corrected bills if any have already been issued without it.
Voter-approved tax relief
The homestead property tax credit was created by the Missouri General Assembly in 2025. It uses 2024 property taxes as a starting point and limits annual increases to 5% or the rate of inflation, whichever is greater. The credit offsets taxes above the amount allowed under that formula.
Platte County voters approved the credit April 7 with 79.4% of the vote. The County Commission identified eligible properties through orders adopted July 20 and Sept. 21 and directed that the credit be applied in 2026, according to the petition.
County Administrator Wes Minder told The Landmark in July that the county has more than 20,000 properties eligible for the Homestead Tax Credit.
State law says the county “shall apply such credit when calculating” each eligible taxpayer’s liability and that the credit “shall be noted on the statement of tax due sent to the eligible taxpayer by the county collector.” Maki and Bosch argue that the use of “shall” makes those duties mandatory.
‘You do not have discretion in this matter’
According to the petition, Second District Commissioner Joe Vanover emailed Palmer Sept. 23, sending the Commission Order and copying the full commission, the county administrator and Palmer’s chief deputy.
“The law requires you to apply the credit when calculating tax liabilities. You are required to note the amount on the tax statements that you send to the taxpayers. Applying the credits and noting them on the tax bills are mandatory duties of your office. You do not have discretion in this matter,” Vanover wrote. “The effective date of the state statute was September 9, 2025. The state statute did not have a delayed effective date.”
Vanover asked Palmer to “reply and confirm that your office will apply the credit when calculating tax liabilities this year and that your office will note the amount on the tax statements that you send to the taxpayers this year.”
Palmer replied Sept. 24, copying the same recipients, but did not provide that confirmation, according to the petition.
“Since you haven’t responded to my email from Sept. 1, 2026, has anything changed? Have you secured another vendor as (our vendor) has told you multiple times that they cannot do the programming this year and plan to start the process in 2027,” Palmer wrote.
The petition states that Maki and Bosch had not seen Palmer’s Sept. 1 email to Vanover and intended to obtain it through the court’s evidence-gathering process.
‘What remains is arithmetic and printing’
Maki and Bosch characterize Palmer’s Sept. 24 response as a refusal to implement the credit in 2026. They argue that state law requires the credit, but does not require the use of any particular software.
“A vendor’s schedule is not a legal defense to a statutory command,” the petition states. “Nothing remains to be decided. What remains is arithmetic and printing.”
The petition suggests the county could calculate credits using spreadsheets or by hand and display the amounts through printing, stamps or attachments to tax bills. The filing does not establish whether the county has tested those alternatives or could complete them before bills are issued.
Palmer’s statement
“The collector’s office consistently works with the county officials that are legally responsible for the property taxation process and, as always, stands ready to carry out the will of Platte County voters consistent with Missouri law,” Palmer said. “The collector’s priority is straightforward. Every taxpayer should receive a fair and accurate tax bill. The collector will continue to diligently fulfill that duty. Because this matter is now before the court, it would not be appropriate to comment further on the pending litigation.”
Vanover criticized that response and questioned whether the lawsuit would prompt action.
“I have worked hard to get the Homestead Tax Credit started this year. The county collector’s office says it ‘stands ready to carry out the will of Platte County voters,’ but then it says it can’t apply the credit this year because a software vendor is too busy helping other counties,” Vanover said. “The collector’s office has known since April 22 that the software vendor wanted to work on other projects this year for other counties. It is a shame that a lawsuit is required to force the collector’s office to give the tax credits this year. Will the lawsuit finally force the collector’s office to make it happen or will the collector’s office fight the lawsuit and make more excuses?”
At the Aug. 31 County Commission meeting, Bosch questioned commissioners during public comment about the delay in applying the tax credit.
“It’s been said that it’s not going to happen until 2027 and I think that’s a gross disservice to the citizens of the county. Since April there’s been plenty of time to get that done and the excuses coming out of the collector’s office basically hold no water,” Bosch said.
Palmer later addressed attendees, saying work on the tax credit was underway. She also responded to criticism about the delay.
“When we first started talking about the homestead credit, I was having some surgery,” she said in August. “I’ve been here all summer. I’m here almost every day and I had some surgery and I missed that meeting where I was pretty much blamed for slow walking the program. We’re all working hard to get this done. But when you put something on a ballot in April, it takes a while to get this going. We still have problems with Senate Bill 190. So, we’re trying to get those figured out. Not placing the blame on anybody, but I’ve been reading a lot of comments and I just want you to know we are ready to do this, but unfortunately, I’m not a programmer.”
Senate Bill 190, passed in 2023, authorized counties to provide property tax relief to eligible senior homeowners.
‘Solve it today, not next year’
Maki, the Republican nominee for presiding commissioner, said sharing a party affiliation with Palmer does not change his position.
“The collector is a Republican. So am I. That doesn’t change anything,” Maki said. “When an elected official won’t follow the law, somebody must hold them to it. I’m not going to look the other way because we share a party. The courthouse has gotten too comfortable telling taxpayers to wait.”
Maki said the actions already taken by the state, voters and County Commission should lead to implementation this year.
“The law says it ‘shall’ be implemented,” he said. “This is not optional. It does not depend on someone’s opinion of what it would take to get done. The state enabled it, the taxpayers voted for it and the taxpayers want it. At every doorstep I hear the same thing — property taxes are too high. This is a way to address that. Let’s solve it today, not next year.”
Bosch, the Republican nominee for collector, also criticized the delay.
“The only thing standing between Platte County homeowners and the relief the law promises is the collector’s office. They knew this was coming for a year and continued to sandbag the implementation for reasons I cannot understand. The collector’s office should be working to help taxpayers, not be working against them,” Bosch said.
Time is of the essence
Maki and Bosch argue that timing is critical because they want the dispute resolved before this year’s tax statements are sent. They contend homeowners should not have to pay bills without the credit and then individually challenge those bills to recover the money.
The petition cites several deadlines to support the request for quick action. According to the filing, the county clerk must deliver the tax book to the collector by Oct. 31 and the collector must mail tax statements at least 30 days before the Dec. 31 delinquency date. The county must also notify each taxing jurisdiction of the total credit amount applicable to it by Nov. 30.
“Duties for the 2026 tax year must therefore be performed in the next several weeks,” the petition states.
Maki and Bosch argue that Palmer had ample notice and time to prepare, pointing to voters’ April 7 approval and the commission’s first eligibility order July 20.
“We already saw what happened when the senior tax credit was delayed — some taxing jurisdictions have engaged in strategic delay in returning the money to the taxpayer. We can’t let that happen again. Taxpayers deserve the relief the state gave them,” Bosch said.
The petition asks the judge to require Palmer to respond within 10 days, or sooner if the judge chooses, and to schedule a prompt hearing. Those are requested deadlines, rather than deadlines already imposed by the court.
Although Maki and Bosch filed the case as two homeowners, the requested order would cover all eligible properties identified in the commission’s two orders.
Maki and Bosch are not seeking monetary compensation or payment of legal fees.
