I just read today's Post-Dispatch article about property taxes:
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/4BD0D2C9A6F937EF86257548001C41E3?OpenDocument#tp_newCommentAnchor
It is time to get angry about this situation. I have already written to Charlie Dooley and my county councilwoman about this issue but I fear they will stick their heads in the sand and hope it blows over. We cannot allow bureaucrats to drive people into financial ruin because they want to take advantage of rising home prices but ignore them when they fall. Assessments in 2007 averaged a 23% increase! Surely at a minimum they can roll those increases back to pre-2007 levels when we're in the kind of economic crisis that we're in right now. What else can we do to insist that the county government pay attention to its consitituents and not just plot to suck every last dime of revenue they can?
I am so angry about the arrogant bureaucracy in Clayton that seems to stick its head in the sand when people are suffering every day financially. The assessor refused to be interviewed for the article apparently he doesn't have to be accountable to the people he supposedly serves. I have already written to my councilwoman and Charlie Dooley but what else can we do to demand that Clayton realistically assess home values when they do their property tax assessments this year? I am not content to simply "wait and hope" that the county will do the right thing. They proved in 2007 that they were perfectly happy to stick it to everyone when the market went up, well now they need to ride the wave down like everyone else. I hope people are as angry about this as I am.By Tim in St. Louis - Jan 25th, 2009
Don't you get it. St. Louis County is broke. They will not roll back taxes, because they can't afford to. The roll back would put St. Louis County into bankruptcy. Dooley and the Council have spent all the money and have no reserves. They can't give back what they don't have.
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