Jason Maki of Parkville and James Bosch of Edgerton filed a petition this week in Platte County Circuit Court asking the court to order the Platte County Collector of Revenue to apply the homestead property tax credit on this year’s tax bills.
The Homestead Property Tax Credit was created by the Missouri General Assembly in 2025. The credit resets a homeowner’s property tax bill to its 2024 level and limits increases to 5% per year or the rate of inflation, whichever is greater. Once implemented it will provide property tax relief to eligible Platte County homeowners.
Platte County voters approved it April 7 with 79.4% of the vote.
The County Commission identified the eligible homes and voted to apply it to homeowners’ tax bills in 2026. The statute states 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.” According to Maki and Bosch, the use of “shall” in the law makes implementation of the tax credit mandatory.
On September 23, the Platte County Commission reminded the collector that applying and noting the credit this year is a mandatory duty of her office. The collector’s reply was that her office “plans to start the process in 2027.”
“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,” said Sheila Palmer, Platte County collector of revenue. “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.”
Maki, the Republican nominee for Presiding Commissioner, is suing an elected official of his own party.
“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 has to 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.”
Bosch, the Republican nominee for collector, is also taking on his own party to deliver the relief.
The petition asks the court to order the collector to apply the credit when calculating 2026 tax liability for every eligible taxpayer’s home and to print the amount on the 2026 tax statements, which will be sent this fall.
Maki clarified why he chose to compel the collector’s office to act.
“The state legislature passed this into law in 2025,” he said. “Platte County voters voted to put it in place here in April. The County Commission issued the order to implement it this year. The law says it ‘shall’ be implemented. 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.”
Jim Bosch explained, “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 continue to sandbag the implementation for reasons I cannot understand. The collector’s office should be working to help taxpayers, not against them.”
Bosch went on to say, “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.”
