Southwest Missouri nonprofit fears eliminating income tax in the August election could force them to shut down a facility

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Mo. (KY3) -A southwest Missouri domestic violence shelter that serves 10 counties says it could lose up to $200,000 in funding per year if Amendment 5 passes on Missouri ballots this August. The amendment would phase out the state income tax.

The Agape House serves a large portion of rural southwest Missouri. For more than three decades, they’ve provided two domestic violence shelters and a free resource center for survivors of domestic violence.

“In 2025, we served 493 people, and that’s women, men, and children,” said the Agape House’s executive director, Tressa Price. “We serve 10 counties, and within those 10 counties, there is over 120,000 in population.”

It costs Agape about $800,000 per year to run their three facilities and pay their 12 staff members. Agape, like other nonprofits in the state of Missouri, gets part of its funding through income tax credits; that is where people can donate to nonprofits and get up to 70% back on their income taxes.

On the August 4th ballot, Missouri citizens can vote to phase out income taxes. Price says that if that were to happen, no income taxes would mean no income tax credits, which would mean there’s less incentive for people to donate to nonprofits across Missouri, like Agape.

“If the income taxes are eliminated, then we lose those donations, and that’s up to 20% of our budget,” said Price. “That’s close to $200,000 a year.”

Losing one-fifth of their yearly budget could potentially mean drastic measures for Agape.

“We may have to close a facility, and that’s a horrible reality because there are only four facilities in the 10-county service area and we are by far the largest service provider among the domestic violence victims in those 10 counties,” said Price. “What that would mean for the survivors that we service there would be one less shelter, one less option for them to access.”

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