ST. CHARLES COUNTY听鈥斕齈roperty taxes will soon be frozen at current levels for senior citizens in St. Charles County after a unanimous vote by the county council on Monday.
The freeze will apply to all residents 62 and older and could take effect as early as 2024.听
The move was applauded by several attendees at Monday's meeting, and it was supported by St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann, who said inflation has caused property taxes on homes in the county to increase by about 30% in recent years.听
"You didn't hear much complaint from seniors when inflation was 2% or 3%. But when the value of your home goes up 20% or 30%, that is when they started asking for help," Ehlmann said.
St. Charles County is the third county in Missouri to enact a similar property tax freeze for seniors after a bill signed into law in May by Gov. Mike Parson gave counties the power to pass such a freeze.
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Among attendees of Monday's meeting was Don Schoedel, of St. Charles, who said property taxes on his three-bedroom home have increased by 34% in the past two years. He blamed the COVID-19 pandemic for driving "house prices through the roof."听
The freeze applies to all taxing districts in the county, such as school districts, fire districts and library districts. Officials in St. Charles County have said they expect several of those districts to try to block the freeze in court because of concerns over lost revenue.听
"Most citizens don't realize听鈥 everything that makes a community strong (is) funded by local taxes," Cottleville Fire Protection District Chief Skip Stephens said before Monday's meeting.
Stephens said he supports the freeze but wants the state bill rewritten so the revenue differential is passed on to other county taxpayers to ensure critical services are fully funded.听
Ehlmann said he plans to meet with fire chiefs in the county in the next few days to hear concerns. He said he has already met with school superintendents, who he said were "unhappy" with the county's interpretation that the bill applies to all taxing districts.听
Another critic of the council's decision was Jason Kuhl, CEO of the St. Charles City-County Library system, who said before Monday's meeting that the library's budget听relies heavily on property taxes and would be left in a lurch if rates are frozen for seniors.听
"Literally every aspect of library operations is funded by property taxes," said Kuhl, who last month presented a bleak outlook to the library district's board of trustees citing a multiyear trend of expenses continuing to outpace revenues. "We have no other way to make up that money."
Response to Missouri's new law has been varied, said Steve Hobbs, executive director of the Missouri Association of Counties.听
"I think if you asked 50 different counties, you would at least get 49 different responses in how they are moving forward," said Hobbs, a former state lawmaker. "I don't think it is a question of if (St. Charles County) gets sued but when."
The Missouri Association of Counties is urging lawmakers to clarify "inconsistencies" in the bill, Hobbs said.听
In 狐狸视频 County, another vote on a proposal for a similar tax freeze has not been scheduled after the plan initially failed over revenue concerns. And in Jefferson County, the County Council was expected to vote Monday on a resolution that would support the freeze but urge state lawmakers to rewrite the bill and听address "many unintended consequences" during the upcoming legislative session.听
Ehlmann said St. Charles County could have delayed its vote too but opted to move ahead instead.
"It was Councilman Matt Swanson who said, 'We're the largest Republican county in the state, and we should some leadership on this,'" Ehlmann said.听
Editor's note: This article has been edited to correct that St. Charles County is the third county in the state to enact the freeze.听