CLAYTON — Applications to St. Louis County’s senior property tax freeze program won’t be approved until early July, at the soonest.

And it could take months for all approvals to be finalized.

The county revenue department has to wait for the assessor’s office to finish assessments, Director of Revenue Tony Smee said Tuesday. Once the list is done, the revenue department can begin finalizing applications.

Some people will hear if they were approved soon after. All applications will be processed by Oct. 1, Smee said.

Some homeowners are impatient, said Dennis Ganahl of MO Tax Relief Now, a group that has advocated for senior tax freezes across Missouri.

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“I get hundreds of emails asking, ‘When are they going to tell me if I’m qualified?’” Ganahl said. “But the county has a huge number of applications.”

Homeowners can check the status of their application on the senior property tax freeze website at stlouiscountymo.gov .

In July 2023, former Gov. Mike Parson signed Senate Bill 190 , which allows counties to enact a property tax freeze program for seniors. The St. Louis County Council approved the tax break that fall. County Executive Sam Page’s administration has been working to implement it since — spending money on staff to help applicants and process applications, and on software upgrades .

Nearly 50 Missouri counties have since put their own programs in place, said Ganahl, of the tax relief group. St. Louis also enacted a program, but with restrictions : Only homes valued at less than $500,000 are eligible, and the freeze will only be applied to the city government’s portion of property tax bills, or about 20% of the total.

There are no such restrictions in St. Louis County. Its program, available to homeowners over the age of 62, has proved popular, with more than 47,000 people submitting applications since it launched.

But Smee, the revenue director, said the county has to wait for the assessor’s office to assemble a list of all of the homes with new additions or new construction that resulted in the home’s value increasing this year. The assessor posts that list on July 1. Those homeowners will have to apply for next year’s freeze.

Councilman Dennis Hancock shared additional details about the program last week in a news release.

The freeze will not apply to tax increases to cover debt taken on by government bodies to pay for a new fire station or school, for example. Taxes could still increase to help cover those costs.

And the program doesn’t change how the assessor values real estate. While a portion of the tax bill will be frozen, the assessor will still calculate a property’s value and send an assessment notice.

If someone submitted an incomplete application, the Department of Revenue will offer help completing it until Sept. 15.

Property owners will have to renew their application annually, but only have to fill out the full application once. The application portal for next year will reopen on Oct. 1.