ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – Senior citizens in St. Louis County will get more time to apply for the property tax freeze. That’s because of the county council’s delay in passing the legislation that finally cleared the council last Tuesday.
Council Chair Shalonda Webb promised the extra time.
“We’re looking to extend that application date just because we know that we have taken some time to get everything in a row in order to move forward. We may move it back for a full year,” she said. “Not starting it a year later but opening up the process to last over a year for people to enroll in.”
The program hit a roadblock when the St. Louis County Department of Revenue said they needed $1.7 million to hire 20 workers to run it. That gave council members sticker shock, Webb said.
“I know people have a big price tag on it, but I had to look at what other surrounding municipalities and counties are doing,” she said. “What was their cost? That’s why we did the committee…That’s why we brought in someone from St. Charles County.”
A St. Charles County official appeared at a special hearing to talk about how they run their program. The official told members of the St. Louis County Council that they were running the program for about $300,000. That was good enough for the St Louis County Council, which decided to give their department of revenue $300,000 as well.
“It’s important, because we all care about our seniors,” she said. “I know there’s been news stories and headlines saying we don’t; that is so untrue. What we have to do though is be responsible.”