Have you checked your reassessment from St. Louis County yet? The numbers have been posted on the website: http://revenue.stlouisco.com/ias/. For most of us, the numbers are -- yet again -- a shock.
Many Shrewsbury residents are seeing 18-22% increases in the assessed value of their homes. Some are seeing far more. Because the assessment is done every other year, this translates into an almost 10% annual increase on average.
Do you realize that the taxes you pay to the County and Shrewsbury are proportional to this assessed value? Our taxes have been growing at this rate for about a decade. This rate is approximately 300% the rate of inflation which has been anywhere from 1.59% (2002) to 3.39% (2005) this decade.
The City of Shrewsbury is one beneficiary of your increased assessed value.
Even if we don't issue any more debt or increase tax RATES in the city, your taxes will continue to climb. In twenty years, an average resident paying $3000 now will pay about $20,000 a year in taxes.
Remember, WITHOUT raising tax rates your tax burden will continue to increase, generally far outstripping anyone's income growth (certainly the author's).
So why is our board of aldermen telling us that the four bond issues on the April 3 ballot will require "no increase in taxes"? While it may not raise our tax rate, these reckless propositions will ensure that our tax burden will grow at this unsustainable rate for the forseeable future.
Please stay tuned to this website in the next view days to learn about each Proposition and why the official literature is deceptive.
The city is counting on a low voter turnout to rubber-stamp these increases into law. Don't let them pull the wool over your eyes! Your aldermen don't seem to be interested in representing YOU. So represent yourself at the polls.
Vote on April 3!
No on P.
NO on R.
NO on S.
NO on T.
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