St. Louis County could face significant cuts to police, parks and other services after voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposed 3.5% online sales tax on Tuesday, County Executive Sam Page warned Wednesday.
“Without additional recurring revenue, we have about a year left before the NFL settlement funds run out and we will no longer be able to operate county government normally, without a significant source of revenue or painful budget cuts,” Page said.
“We’re going to have to make some tough decisions, hard decisions, going forward and I sure don’t want to make those decisions, especially when it comes to police and public safety and roads and things that the government should be doing in this community.”
Councilman Mark Harder
St. Louis County received roughly $169 million from the region’s $519 million Rams lawsuit settlement. Unlike the City of St. Louis, which authorized a master plan to deploy its entire share, St. Louis County chose to approve funds case by case. Roughly $56.2 million has been allocated to date, leaving a bit more than $100 million unassigned.
The measure, called Proposition U, received just 35% of the vote, well below the simple majority required for passage. County voters also rejected a use tax in 2022, though by a much narrower margin.
St. Louis County officials expect a budget deficit of at least $50 million next year. Supporters had hoped the proposition would generate at least $110 million annually, with the county receiving about $70 million for its general fund.
Page predicted that most cuts will hit public parks maintenance, road and street repairs and public safety — stressing that nearly 100 police officers could lose their jobs next year.
During a revenue and spending meeting last week, Councilman Mark Harder expressed concern over what would happen if Proposition U failed.
“We’re going to have to make some tough decisions, hard decisions, going forward,” Harder said, “and I sure don’t want to make those decisions, especially when it comes to police and public safety and roads and things that the government should be doing in this community.”
Page noted that the County Council could use a voter-approved option to raise property taxes, redirect the remaining Rams settlement funds to bolster the budget, or put the use tax back on the ballot in November.
Page said he’d support returning the measure to the ballot with one caveat.
“We need to put resources into educating the voters on what service cuts mean to St. Louis County,” Page said. “If the council wants to see this pass, they should approve some money to help educate the voters on what it means to choose between cutting police officers or having an online sales tax like most jurisdictions in St. Louis County.”
Sylvester Brown Jr. is the Deaconess Foundation Community Advocacy Fellow.