St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay has lent his support to what I characterized recently as  the Great Property Tax Revolt of 2008.

Slay writes in his blog,

… I will support legislation in Jeff City this session to require local jurisdictions to roll to back tax rates for their operating levies. I will also lobby for tax relief for seniors on fixed incomes by expanding the Homestead Preservation Tax Credit and the Circuit Breaker refund.

Occasionally, the City must raise taxes to provide the police, fire, and other services needed to make our neighborhoods strong. But, voters should be given an informed choice, not back-door tax increases that undermine confidence in government.

Some of Slay’s fellow public officials may not like the idea of losing their wiggle room on property tax rates, but a tighter rollback requirement is a reasonable response to last year’s reassessment controversy. Properly crafted, it could allow governments’ revenue to keep up with inflation, but not benefit from a reassessment windfall.

Before the weekend, let me slip in a blog housekeeping note. On Sunday, you’ll be unable to submit comments on Mound City Money, or any other STLtoday blog, while we  upgrade our  software. The Editor’s Desk  has detaiils.