ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Mayor Tishaura O. Jones said she wants to give area senior citizens a break by freezing their property taxes.
"It's once in a lifetime for our seniors to freeze their taxes for many, many years to come," Jones said.
The Missouri Legislature passed Senate Bill 190 earlier this year. It gives each county and St. Louis the choice to enact a property tax freeze for seniors.
St. Charles County leaders have already said yes, but St. Louis County has said no.
Jones hosted a roundtable with senior citizens Wednesday, where she and 1st Ward Alderwoman Anne Schweitzer and 11th Ward Alderwoman Laura Keys said they all support the idea. They were joined by seniors, the St. Louis Area Agency on Aging, and Michael Dauphin, the city's tax assessor.
The proposed legislation said people would qualify for the opportunity when they turn 62 years old. The move would freeze property taxes for seniors beginning with the year of 2023.
“They are struggling [senior citizens]. I’ve gone and done home visits with many and I’ve had to swallow back tears at the conditions many of them are living in. No one should have to live like that," Keys said.
Ollie Stewart and Robert Powell both agree there should be an income restriction to the proposed legislation in addition to the age requirement.
"When you reach fixed income and you're paying $4,000-$5,000 and your taxes are going up every year, that makes a difference on your fixed income," Stewart said.
"Those who fled to what they felt is a better place in the county, now they'll want to come back to the city if they knew they could get a break on their property taxes," Powell said.
Schweitzer addressed concerns about the freeze taking property tax money away from public schools and institutions.
"What this bill draft is looking at is a version that holds harmless the other taxing districts besides the city," Schweitzer said.
"Which means — if you have taxes that go towards the museum district, schools and special businesses, those taxes will not be affected by this freeze," Schweitzer said.
Schweitzer said once they've gathered enough input from senior citizens on proposed legislation that's when the bill will be introduced to the Board of Aldermen. The board will then have several hearings on the bill and then will finally be sent to Jones for final passage.
A full list of programming to support St. Louis seniors can be found on the city’s website.