Politics & Government

Ehlmann Highlights Low Poverty Rate, Low Taxes, Low Crime Rate in State of St. Charles County Address

The county executive also criticizes TIF projects, stresses county will live within its means while providing vital services.

How did St. Charles County government manage to achieve a 3.6-percent poverty rate according to the 2010 Census--a feat achieved by just a handful of counties nationwide?

They didn’t--St. Charles County residents achieved that, St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann said.

Ehlmann was speaking during the State of St. Charles County address Monday morning. The event was televised live on SCCMO-TV and will be available on the county’s website.

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“In most cases, if you work a job, pay your bills, keep your kids in school and both parents are involved in raising children, your chances of ending up in poverty are greatly reduced,” Ehlmann said.

The county grew by 27 percent to 360,485 residents, surpassing the City of St. Louis for the first time, he said. Despite that fact, the county’s crime rate remains low, he said.

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He said crimes were down for the third year in a row. Property crimes were down 1 percent and violent crimes dropped 14 percent.

“We continue to make public safety our top priority,” Ehlmann said.

Even though tax revenue has declined, the county maintained public safety, and now spends 63 percent of its budget on law enforcement, courts, corrections and emergency management, he said.

Sales tax revenue remained relatively flat, growing by just 2 percent in 2010, forcing county budget cuts, he said. The county cut personnel in 2010, did not give employees raises and offered voluntary, unpaid furloughs to employees.

St. Charles County officials choose to live within their means rather than raising taxes, he said.

“It is not the time to raise taxes when our community is making its way out of a recession,” he said.

He said that of a typical $2,000 property tax bill, the county would receive 62 cents for its general operating fund, $79.09 for its road and bridge Fund, and $15.23 for emergency dispatch. That amounts to 4.75 percent of the entire bill. The rest goes to school, fire, library and ambulance and other tax districts.

Sales tax revenue also has continued to fall, Ehlmann said.

He said part of the revenue shortfall is due to tax increment financing (TIF) projects.

“St. Charles city required us to remit $1,321,260 to retire tax increment financing bonds used by developers to put in infrastructure they normally pay for themselves,” he said. “Likewise, St. Peters was sent a check for $363,516 for the same purpose.”

That money could have been used to provide city services, he said.

“I also hope you were not the owner of the many unsubsidized local businesses that have had to close their doors over the last few years while large-box competitors from out of town were given tax breaks,” Ehlmann said.

He noted that according to the  on TIFs, 80 percent of the St. Louis area’s $2 billion in TIF projects from 1990 through 2007 went for retail developments. However, just 5,400 retail jobs were added to the region.

He said Assessor Scott Shipman said that assessed values for St. Charles property would fall by 4 percent to 5 percent this year.

“But I oppose raising our rates, as the law allows, to make up for any losses in revenue,” Ehlmann said. You might want to check with other elected officials and see if they will make the same pledge.”

He pointed out that school, fire, ambulance and library districts set their own tax rates.

He gave an outline of other things the count’s 2010 accomplishments and things to look forward to in 2011.

Ehlmann said county officials continue working on the regional China Hub initiative to make Lambert-St. Louis International Airport an import and export center for China.

“This could be a tremendous boost to job growth throughout the metro area, including St. Charles County,” he said.

The county will protect the privacy of its citizens by continuing in its lawsuit to prevent picketing at funerals, he said. Westboro Baptist Church sued the county over its new ordinance that prevents protesting within 300 feet of at funerals.

Other highlights included the following items.

Roads and bridges

  • Worked with the Missouri Department of Transportation to add shoulders to dangerous state highways in the southwest part of the county
  • Continued work on Salt River Road to relieve congestion on Interstate 70
  • Working on plans for a new I-64 bridge over the Missouri River
  • Working to obtain funding for phase 3 of the Highway 364 (Page Avenue) extension, Phase 2 is funded and work is underway to extend the road through Mid Rivers Mall Drive.

Parks Department

The Parks Department celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2010 with an event at Quail Ridge County Park. Other parks milestones included:

  • Opening the Heritage Museum and the adjoining, two-mile Centennial Trail in 2010.
  • Acquiring 83 acres near St. Paul from the Babe Hackmann estate. That gives the department a total of 2,958 acres.


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