CLAYTON, Mo. — The St. Louis County Council on Tuesday passed a bill to freeze property taxes for senior homeowners. The measure now heads to County Executive Sam Page for his approval.
The bill passed 4-2 at the council's regular meeting Tuesday, with one absent vote.
The bill would freeze property tax increases for homeowners 67 and over whose homes are worth $550,000 or less.
"This is about Missouri's values and the question is whether St. Louis County Council values its seniors, seniors who have seen their property values go up 50% in North County and 20% on average across the county," said Dennis Ganahl with MO Tax Relief Now.
This comes as the county considers tax hikes and spending cuts amid a $25.8 million budget hole.
In a letter to members of the council, St. Louis County Executive Page's budget plan cited "inflationary pressures" as the reason why he would raise county property tax rates an additional 3.9 cents (per $100 of assessed value) over the 2023 tax rate, which he said would cost an estimated "$22 for the average home."
The last time County Council members considered a property tax freeze for seniors, they rejected it on party lines, with four Democrats expressing concerns about giving tax relief to millionaires.
"I still don't think it's good public policy.... You're going to be giving one set of the population a special tax deal that's not eligible for everybody," a resident told the council during public comment.
"It is about helping senior citizens get through the rest of their life and living in their homes, staying in their homes," another resident added.
Councilman Dennis Hancock said it's time the county moved forward with the plan.
"It's not a tax cut. It's a tax freeze. Seniors will continue to pay taxes that they pay today. So if they're paying $1,000 today, next year they'll pay $1,000 again. What they won't pay is the inflated rate based on future assessments," he said.
According to the St. Louis County Assessor's Office, nearly 90% of homes in the county are in the qualifying price range. A spokesman for the assessor's office said they don't track demographic information about the age of homeowners, so they could not say with certainty how many of those homes could be impacted in a tax freeze.
"If the County Council can't do for the seniors in St. Louis County what they did for Boeing, I think anyone who is up for re-election next year should be voted out," Ganahl said, referring to recent tax incentives for the company to expand in the county.