MANCHESTER — Two ºüÀêÊÓƵ County elected officials have gone head to head for more than a year over the size of their jurisdictions — spending thousands of taxpayer dollars and hours of employee time trying to sway voters.
At issue is a ballot measure that, if it passes next week, would allow the city of Manchester to annex a part of unincorporated ºüÀêÊÓƵ County of roughly 6,500 residents, two schools, a county park and several businesses.
Manchester Mayor Mike Clement wants the land. County Executive Sam Page doesn’t want to let it go.
Page said residents in the area enjoy lower tax rates and better services from the county.
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“The folks who live here are awake,†Page said. “They’re paying attention, and they know what’s at stake.â€
Clement said residents would gain by joining a smaller, more responsive government.
“It’s very simple,†he said. “Local government delivers better services for less cost.â€
The county has spent more than $5,000 showcasing its services at town halls in recent months — not to mention hours of employee time. Manchester, a city of about 18,000, has spent roughly $100,000, on consulting services and a massive public outreach campaign, including canvassing teams, open houses and mailers.
A chunk of taxpayer money is at stake: The county estimates a roughly $2.8 million annual revenue loss if the area is annexed. Manchester estimates about $2.1 million in additional revenues from the annexed area in 2023 and roughly $3.9 million in 2024. The increase would be offset by higher municipal expenses, largely to hire more police and public works employees and to buy vehicles.
Annexed residents would see tax increases of 1.25 percentage points for municipal sales, 0.3 points for real estate, and $22 in sewer lateral fees. But they would pay $255 less in trash pickup fees.
Clement said new residents would benefit from their tax dollars staying closer to home, and Manchester’s current residents could see lower taxes in the future because of a larger revenue base.
The county argues its residents enjoy access to police resources from the region’s largest department, and better resources for snow removal and road maintenance.
Helicopters at Queeny Park
It’s not the first time the county and Manchester have fought over land. The city previously annexed part of the county in 1997, and again in 1999, adding a total of roughly 11,400 residents. This time, the city seeks to expand its boundary northeast from Carman Road to Barrett Station Road — adding roughly 2.3 square miles that includes about 2,860 residences.
The most recent effort started in 2021 when Manchester indicated it would seek the annexation. The city then submitted a formal application to the ºüÀêÊÓƵ County Boundary Commission, an independent 11-member panel set up by state statute to review proposed boundary changes.
Page tried to replace two members on the commission and stop the proposal. But it didn’t work, and the commission approved the issue going for a vote.
In August, the county filed suit against the commission, arguing it shouldn’t have approved the vote. That case was still pending before a ºüÀêÊÓƵ County circuit judge as of Friday.
The county spent about $4,250 on a mailer inviting residents to open houses where county staff would be available to talk with residents, and it spent about $860 on various expenses associated with the town halls — from give-away candy to balloons and sign-holders.
Department leaders and staffers dedicated hours to the three town halls, at Queeny Park, since August. Police arrived with multiple helicopters and officers mounted on horses. At one event, in October, the transportation department showed off its new electric trucks.
The county also built a webpage dedicated to the issue.
Councilman Mark Harder, a Republican from Ballwin, opposes the county’s involvement in the ballot initiative. He said while the county hasn’t spent a great deal of money, staffers have dedicated a lot of company time.
“There’s an opportunity cost in any of this stuff. If those three helicopters are sitting at Queeny Park and not in the air and not supporting municipalities and other county functions, there’s a cost to that,†Harder said.
Police later said they only brought two helicopters, but Republican Councilman Dennis Hancock of Fenton attended and said he saw three.
In Manchester, the city has since July 2022 paid for consultants, public relations, mailers and food and drink for open houses and business luncheons to garner support from residents of the area it wants to annex. And a campaign committee formed to had raised more than $13,200 as of mid-October, with Mayor Clement donating $2,000 of his own money.
More campaign spending will be disclosed in the next round of reporting required by the state.
Both governments said they avoided violating by touting their services but not urging people to vote for or against the annexation.
“We’re following the rules,†Page said at a county open house event in October. “The line is pretty well established in state law. The line is persuasion. And what we are limited to in this setting is to just tell the facts.â€
Clement said the city’s spending has come over five years of planning.
“It sounds like a lot of spending but when you spread that out over the whole duration of this project, I don’t think it is,†he said. “We want people to be aware and to be fully informed.â€
Residents chime in
The town halls, the mailers and the effort have done little to affect the opinion of Gloria VanDover, an 84-year-old resident of unincorporated ºüÀêÊÓƵ County.
Her single-family rental home stands to be annexed into Manchester, and she plans to support the move because a friend told her she’d get better services. She has struggled to get a hold of someone in county government to address the overgrown lawn across the street.
“I’ve been calling the county and have gotten nowhere until today,†said VanDover, who attended the October county town hall to talk to staffers. “Right now I think I’m going to vote for the annexation because a friend told me if it had been Manchester, I wouldn’t have this problem. I could go up to city hall and bug them rather than making these phone calls and going to Clayton.â€
Bill Handy, 56, opposes the annexation and has campaigned against it. He said he and his wife intentionally chose to live in unincorporated ºüÀêÊÓƵ County when he moved to the Ridgemont neighborhood two years ago. He doesn’t want to pay municipal taxes on top of county taxes, and doesn’t want to lose service from ºüÀêÊÓƵ County police.
“It became apparent this was not good for us, personally,†Handy said.
The issue will be on the Nov. 7 ballot in both the city of Manchester and in the unincorporated county area to be annexed. Passage requires a simple majority in both jurisdictions.
Editor's note: The story has been updated to clarify that a simple majority is required in both Manchester and the affected section of unincorporated ºüÀêÊÓƵ County, and with comment from police regarding county helicopters.