There are about a quarter-million people in St. Louis County above the age of 62 (back of the envelope) and 70,000 of them have applied for the county’s senior property tax freeze, locking in place the taxes they pay on their homes even as its value rises. But while less than one-third of the county’s seniors have availed themselves of the freeze, 100 percent of the seniors on the County Council, which passed the legislation, have.
The program has saved seniors an estimated $30 million thus far, but has also taken some flak because the county is running an $80 million budget deficit and that money has to come from somewhere. Beyond that, school districts are getting hit: Rockwood is set to lose $4 million funds. Parkway, $2.7 million.
One of the four council members who took the freeze, Rita Heard Days, acknowledges that any program that reduces tax receipts is concerning, but says she applied to get a first-hand account of how the system works. Along the way she discovered some issues, specifically “cumbersome and duplicative” communication between the county and the applicant. She adds: “I have not checked to see if there was any benefit to my taxes. I have been too busy to look into it.”…