ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Community College would benefit from a $24 million annual property tax hike that will appear on the Aug. 3 ballot.
Proposition R, which will be on the ballot in the city of St. Louis, St. Louis County and parts of Franklin and Jefferson counties, says it would help the institution update career training programs, and renovate and build new facilities. It would increase the college's operating levy by 8 cents, to more than 27 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. A campaign committee supporting the tax increase, Invest in St. Louis Community College, said the owner of a home worth $150,000 would pay an additional $1.90 per month.
A spokesman for Invest, Tony Zagora of public relations firm FleishmanHillard, said the proposition is estimated to raise about $24 million a year. About $350 million in Prop R funds would be used to renovate facilities and update technology, and the remaining funds "will go toward updating job training and retraining programs to prepare students with skills needed in critical industries in our region, including health care (primary nursing), information technology, financial services, biotechnology and manufacturing," he said.
Mark Wrighton, chancellor emeritus of Washington University, is co-chairing the committee. Candice Carter-Oliver, CEO of Confluence Academies charter schools, is the other co-chair. As of March 31, Invest reported raising $1,000 and spending nothing.
Wrighton said in a statement Wednesday that "the investments we make in training and retraining our workforce now will pay off again and again over the long term for our St. Louis economy."
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