ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – The You Paid For It Team makes it into the debate at the St Louis County Council over the property tax freeze for senior citizens. Unlike other communities, the effort in St. Louis County to give seniors a break on their property taxes has been stalled.
St. Louis County Councilman Dennis Hancock referred to our You Paid For It report in a recent county council meeting when he called on the Page administration for more action.
“Over the weekend, I saw … a You Paid For It piece where (Elliott ) talked about the senior tax freeze and the delays that we’re seeing with it. At the end of it, there was a statement that came from Doug Moore that said the cause is that the council hasn’t fully funded the program,” Hancock said. “At the end of April, this council unanimously voted to fund $300,000 for that program.”
The St. Louis County Revenue Department asked for $1.7 million to implement the program. The council’s allocation fell far short of that.
“The council approved a senior property tax freeze but did not provide the funding to fully implement it. I urge seniors to call their council members, asking them to fund this program so St. Louis County can provide some relief for our older residents,” Doug Moore, spokesman for County Executive Sam Page, said.
County Councilwoman Rita Heard Days is not happy with the administration’s response.
“They contend there is no money. They haven’t spent the money that we gave them. We gave them money for temporary employees, we gave them money for the software that they said they needed, and they haven’t done anything with that,” she said.
Similar programs in both St. Louis City and St. Charles County are already up and running.
No one is sure when St. Louis County’s program will start.
“Fiscally, we have to be responsible for this. We’re not just going to turn over a million-some dollars and not know what’s going on with that,” Days said. “So, utilize the $300,000 and see if they need more, and come back and ask for more.”
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