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Read. Follow. Verify.Missouri bill requires assessors to pay legal costs and damages for erroneous property classifications
Last action · January 21, 2026: Voted Do Pass S Economic and Workforce Development CommitteeSponsor: Ben Brown
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What This Bill Would Do
SB 987 - Current law provides that a taxpayer shall be awarded costs and reasonable attorney's fees for any appeal of an assessor's classification of real property that is found by the State Tax Commission or a court of competent jurisdiction to be an erroneous classification. This act provides that any such decision shall include the recovery of such costs. The act provides that any taxpayer not receiving such costs and fees derived from any decision made on or after January 1, 2024, shall have a cause of action against the assessor to recover such costs and fees, as well as the costs and fees associated with initiating such cause of action. Such taxpayer shall also be entitled to recover damages in an amount equal to ten percent of the original assessed value of the property that was erroneously classified. This act is identical to SCS/SB 759 (2025). JOSH NORBERG
Property owners who face incorrect property classifications receive a guaranteed legal mechanism to recover attorney's fees, appeal costs, and statutory damages from the responsible assessor.
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Real property owners
Property owners gain guaranteed cost recovery and a cause of action for damages against assessors in cases of erroneous property classifications.
County assessors
Assessors face potential legal liability for attorney's fees, appeal costs, and statutory damages when property classifications are found to be erroneous.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if an assessor classifies my property incorrectly?
Can I recover fees for past erroneous classification decisions?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
Check Your Understanding
1.According to bill version 4601S.01I, what does the text require the state tax commission or a court to do when a taxpayer successfully challenges a real property classification that conflicts with a prior determination?
2.According to bill version 4601S.01I, what right does the text grant to a taxpayer who did not receive costs and fees as a result of a decision made on or after January 1, 2024?
Follow the record
Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Procedural history
5 actions- Jan 21, 2026SenateCommitteeVoted Do Pass S Economic and Workforce Development Committee
- Jan 14, 2026SenateHearing Conducted S Economic and Workforce Development Committee
- Jan 8, 2026SenateFloorSecond Read and Referred S Economic and Workforce Development Committee
- Jan 7, 2026SenateIntroducedS First Read
- Dec 1, 2025SenatePrefiled
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. The text on record is the 4601S.01I - Introduced version. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Connected Entities
Sources
www.senate.mo.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance60How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy30Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz15Current news / social attention level
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