MANCHESTER, Mo. — The City of Manchester could grow by the thousands next week. On Tuesday, voters who live in Manchester and parts of St. Louis County will decide whether to push their boundaries. The city's annexation proposal is on the ballot.
Manchester, a city of 18,000 people could soon grow by an additional 6,500.
"New residents coming in bring new ideas, new energy and that's all good for us,” Manchester Mayor Mike Clement said.
The city's four-year campaign to annex a portion of unincorporated St. Louis County will head to voters in less than a week.
Clement said that people who live in the annexation area could see property taxes jump by about $25 to $30.
"The savings come [with] trash. Manchester, we pay $6 a month for trash … they pay anywhere from $18 to $30 a month … [the] city pays street light costs. We bring in new streets,” he said.
"Residents are really going to see and feel it when they go to purchase new vehicles, watercraft [and] RV’s because of the way Missouri deals with sales tax for new vehicles. It is collected from where you live, not where you purchased the item … these additional taxes do not come with a host of services from the city that are better in quality,” the county’s Planning Director Jacob Trimble said.
The county's planning director said smaller towns, including Manchester, contract with the county to deliver many services. He said they do that for good reason.
"By our larger size, we’re able to provide better services, more specialized services at lower costs than smaller entities such as municipalities frequently can … what this will also mean is the loss of county police for those residents of unincorporated St. Louis County,” he said.
Clement said if the measure passes, then the city's police force is ready to hire a dozen new officers.
"That makes us a better city and there are efficiencies that happen when we become larger,” Clement said.
Manchester will hold an open house on this issue Thursday from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. at the Justice Center. A second open house will happen Saturday from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. at Barretts Elementary School.