Unanimous Vote Places Proposition C On June Ballot

Kirkwood, Missouri – March 1, 2007 -- The City Council unanimously voted to place Proposition C on the June 5 ballot to restore necessary funding levels to the city’s budget for city services, including police and fire protection, EMS services, and deferred street maintenance. These basic community needs are paid out of the General Fund, which gets its revenues primarily from sales taxes and Kirkwood Electric revenues, revenues that have been predominantly flat over the last five years.

The proposed 34-cent property tax focuses on adequately staffing emergency services and fairly compensating city service staff, including firefighters, paramedics, and police. See the city’s website at www.ci.kirkwood.mo.us under “2007/08 budget information” to learn more.

It’s important to note that although St. Louis County reassessments recently rose an average of 22 percent in Kirkwood, by law, our city budget does not receive the full impact of that increase. The Hancock Amendment currently limits our annual increase in tax revenue to just half of the Consumer Price Index. That means our General Fund will receive an annual increase of less than two percent this fiscal year from reassessments -- not even keeping pace with inflation.

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