WELLSTON • FBI agents raided city offices here Monday and seized financial records, Wellston Police Chief G. Thomas Walker said.
In a phone conversation just before 5 p.m., Walker said that agents were still in the building. “I don't know specifically what they're looking for, but they're taking a lot,” he said.
We can say as much as we want how silly these municipal leaders are being (because they are), but I said it months ago- if the Better Together group had done a better job at or put seemingly any effort into engaging with municipal leaders from the start of their work, we probably wouldn't be seeing as many of these things. If enough munis get involved in resolutions against the dreaded "merger", I think it could seriously create confusion among many voters and could derail any efforts for greater cooperation and/or re-rentry.
Calling it a merger is just playing into the hands of those that oppose the re-entry. If you are advocating for a position, don't use your opponent's language. It's counterproductive.
Chesterfield Mayor Bob Nation is threatening that his city may look at steps that include seceding from St. Louis County and joining St. Charles County.
“I’m very seriously suggesting we need to consider looking at the constitutionality of the local sales tax system or even seceding from St. Louis County and joining St. Charles County because I don’t know what other solution to propose,” Nation told the City Council on Monday night during an agenda review meeting before the council meeting.
^ Thanks for the confirmation.... I wasn't sure I was in a waking up stupor when I heard that on the tv. So what is the proper term here, "municipal narcissism"?
The political news is upsetting today. First, a north county democrat agrees to override the state tax cut bill so we can replace part of our income tax revenue with sales tax, and now there is this tantrum.
The chesterfield story might be more embarrassing, but I'm not sure which news is worse.
Fack...so messed up and funny. Love how all the comments are pro union and not letting Chesterfield leave saying other city residents like Wildwood shop in Chesterfield. Yet the same people can't make the same connection with St. Louis City. Do they think I do not leave the city limits and shop at Brentwood? The county gets most of my sales tax dollars. So therefore we should merge. But of course these people can't see that. Weird....
If Chesterfield leaves the County they should have to take on all its debt like the City did when it left and the County should be allowed to put a toll in at the new border.
quincunx wrote:If Chesterfield leaves the County they should have to take on all its debt like the City did when it left and the County should be allowed to put a toll in at the new border.
Silly politics aside, county has some huge issues of their own. Sales tax reform is one of them. Too many muni's is another and not at least is a mix of very good and struggling school districts.
dredger wrote:Silly politics aside, county has some huge issues of their own. Sales tax reform is one of them. Too many muni's is another and not at least is a mix of very good and struggling school districts.
The current system has lead to a startling amount of inequality in education across the entire region. And that is exactly how many people in the good school districts want it to stay.
So, if we assume there will be no Constitutional Convention or ammendment or other tomfoolery with the State Legislature, Chesterfield will not be able to join St. Charles as the rest of the County would never let them?
Here's an idea... let Chesterfield hook up with that unincorporated part of South County that hates old people and has that nutjob representative who wants to secede as well.... her idea is to form a new county. Maybe we find a sliver of an East-West connection to make this new utopia a contiguous one.
even seceding from St. Louis County and joining St. Charles County because I don’t know what other solution to propose
Well... he could push for Chesterfield to become an INDEPENDENT CITY within the county and let them take care of all their own services and see how much they like it!
I like the comment about the millions invested in Chesterfield on behalf of the region. The idea that Chesterfield created its economic situation is bull and glad some one is calling them out on it. I also questioned the number thrown out by Chesterfield concerning the new outlet mall tax generation, is that correct? I do think the sales tax system needs to be tweaked if they would do meaningful TIF reform that doesn't allow the muni's to simply override county's TIF decision.
Yet, he said, the city will get only about $130,000 of the $2 million in additional revenue from the one-cent tax due to the two developments.
Earls, meanwhile, pointed out that the city does get all the revenue from other taxes collected in the city. Among those, he said, are a half-cent sales tax for parks and storm water control and taxes on utility bills paid by commercial properties.
He said St. Louis County was likely to fight Chesterfield’s departure because of the tens of millions of dollars the county has spent in the city over the years.
Chesterfield has gotten itself into it's own mess from its own selfishness sorta like when the city selfishly decided to succeed from the county.. Now we're wanting back in.. All these communities just need to dissolve and become one big St.Louis
More Hijinks in Kinloch. $2M missing. We should be helping towns like this merge or dissolve not prop them up. Kinloch is just a new gov't center away from stability.
Anyone know the story behind Berkeley's new gov't buildings? Seems like another waste to me.
KMOV - News 4 investigates: $2 million in taxpayer money goes missing
^I saw one recent sale for 11K. Even if the lots averaged 20K you could buy 100 of them for 2M. The vast majority of the city lays fallow as part of McKee's Northpark. Seems like they should have used the 2 million to buy the remaining residential properties in Kinloch, and disincorporate the town. Either merge it with Berkeley, or keep it disincorporated until a unity plan becomes clear. Zone it as industrial/commericial for China hub uses.
From what i understand the Berkeley government buildings were funded by a windfall settlement of some kind. They are large and extravagant for a city of that size and average home value but i think it did not need a bond to fund it so the city council kind of had a freehand to spend it how they wanted without input from the voters, and they wanted the government center.
It is a waste if you think every municipality should disolve and join a greater St. Louis, otherwise they needed a new facility to function. Realistically the former wasn't likely to happen any time soon, even just re-entry has a tough time getting the necessary support. Alot of people in this forum have even questioned whether the city should try to re-enter, and thats from the city perspective. For the county its even tougher.
My point is that a new gov't center could serve many more people, but yeat we build lots of gov't centers. Merging among some county munis and reentry aren't mutually exclusive.
Stltoday.com - Group calls for regional approach to tax incentives
“It is clear that such a fragmented approach and the intraregional competition it fosters should be be revisited with a greater emphasis being placed on regional growth and the ability to compete in the national and international economy,” the study concludes.
Last night a BTSTL rep came to our neighborhood meeting. He was explaining the goal of the group, then asked for people to host coffees and spread the word. He got several questions about the funding, and someone mentioned Sinquefield and there was much grumbling (city voters).
On a related note, Jennifer Joyce (circuit attorney) remarked earlier in the evening that she thought if STL city and county joined their juror pools because the city pool is small and the county is large. When she was asked about the future of the 22nd circuit if the city reentered the county, she said she didn't know. She said the 22nd could continue separately, could merge fully, or could merge partially (two courthouses, one circuit).
The fragmentation of the region is one of the most significant reasons, and I support the merger of the city of St. Louis and St. Louis County. I think the size of the St. Louis market and the strength of the St. Louis market is not really captured in statistics because the statistics really just focus on the city versus the region. When you compare the region of St. Louis with other metropolitan regions, we are much better than the statistics indicate. That’s an important message to send nationally.
I do think fragmentation is an issue in the region as a whole. The more we can work together as one team, and we’re all rowing in the same direction, we’ll be more successful.
I also believe there’s a gap with assisting companies that have been in existence for a long time. If people like us don’t invest in them, the companies won’t be successful and they may not continue to exist. These companies employ a lot of people today, and if they’re invested in the right way, and they’re given the right guidance, they’ll expand and really be a key component in providing growth in the region.
