North St. Louis County undid transit tax proposal
North St. Louis County was the undoing of a half-cent increase in the transit sales tax that county voters defeated last Tuesday, township-by-township results of the election show.
The $80 million a year the tax would have raised would have helped subsidize MetroLink and bus operations and build additional light-rail lines.
North County, normally a transit stronghold, supported the proposal by just two votes. Five of its 10 townships voted against the increase.
The area is the home of many transit users and gets considerable bus and MetroLink service.
Central St. Louis County strongly supported the proposal. It received a 58.36 per cent favorable vote there. Five of the six townships in the area backed the tax with 71.29 percent of the voters in Hadley Township, an area from University City to Maplewood, supporting it.
Almost all of the St. Louis County part of the MetroLink extension from Forest Park to Shrewsbury is in Hadley Township as is the Washington University campus and surrounding area, which generate many transit riders.
Bonhomme Township, the area that includes Kirkwood and Fenton, was the only township in the central area to reject the tax, but only by 56 votes.
South and West St. Louis County, which get less transit service than other parts of the county, strongly objected to the tax increase, as those areas have done in the past. Opposed were 59.37 percent of South County voters and 56.55 percent of West County ones.
The sinking economy and falling gasoline prices may have increased no votes. Traditional negative concerns, such as public trust in Metro, remained. The lack of a high-profile campaign also may have been a factor in the proposal’s defeat.
The proposal, which was near the end of the ballot, got less voter attention than the presidential race on the top. The transit tax drew 46,421 fewer votes than the presidential race, an 8.3 percent drop off. The impact of the drop off on the fate of the transit tax is unclear.
The St. Louis County Election Board made the township results public on Saturday.
Below are the township-by-township results.
Township Yes No Percent yes Percent no North Airport 7,159 7,964 47.34% 52.66% Ferguson 8,307 7,327 53.13% 46.87% Florissant 8,784 9,853 47.13% 52.87% Lewis and Clark 8,747 10,355 45.79% 54.21% Midland 6,694 8,088 45.28% 54.72% Normandy 8,373 5,815 59.01% 40.99% Norwood 8,035 6,415 55.61% 44.39% Northwest 6,923 9,148 43.08% 56.92% St. Ferdinand 7,732 6,924 52.76% 47.24% Spanish Lake 9,929 8,792 53.04% 46.96% Total 80,683 80,681 50.00% 50.00% Central Bonhomme 10,806 10,862 49.87% 50.13% Clayton 11,807 8,998 56.75% 43.25% Creve Coeur 10,252 8,469 54.76% 45.24% Hadley 12,587 5,069 71.29% 28.71% Jefferson 12,500 8,655 59.09% 40.91% University 11,277 7,335 60.59% 39.41% Total 69,229 49,388 58.36% 41.64% South Concord 7,910 11,001 41.83% 58.17% Gravois 8,800 10,044 46.70% 53.30% Lemay 6,031 8,242 42.25% 57.75% Oakville 7,331 13,535 35.13% 64.87% Tesson Ferry 7,908 12,687 38.40% 61.60% Total 37,980 55,509 40.63% 59.37% West Chesterfield 8,671 12,977 40.05% 59.95% Lafayette 7,940 10,890 42.17% 57.83% Maryland Heights 9,201 9,830 48.35% 51.65% Meramec 7,987 11,599 40.78% 59.22% Missouri River 9,715 10,852 47.24% 52.76% Queeny 8,597 10,254 45.61% 54.39% Wildwood 8,335 12,275 40.44% 59.56% Total 60,446 78,677 43.45% 56.55% Grand Total 248,338 264,255 48.45% 51.55%
Congratulations to South and West Counties for showing some fiscal restraint by putting the brakes on out of control spending by MetroLink. Here’s to shoving that tax grab right back into Dooley’s face, where it belongs. Charlie, put that in your pipe and smoke it!
The Townships from North County closest to N. Hanley Metrolink said yes, while the further away from there that you go, the no votes won out. From where I live in North County, I can get downtown faster than I can get to Hwy. 70 and North Hanley Metrolink.
I agree this should send shivers down Dooley’s spine. He better take note on reassessments. If he tries to highball those again with his drive-by appraisers, he’s toast. I know I’m appealing mine. You will see more appeals than the Ninth Circuit Fedearl Court.
Our city and state are sinking fast and all you people do is cheer on the sinking. We cannot be a competitive city without a modern transit system. How are we supposed to attract businesses to develop here without proving that we are willing to invest in our communities? But more importantly, where was the support? Almost half of the area supported this initiative, where were you? We need to start fighting for what we believe in.
Many voters in South County did view this as a referendum on Charlie Dooley and St. Louis County, rather than just a Metro issue. Some of this was based on the drive-by assessments and some was based on the trash transfer station and new trash districts. Many have felt ignored or disregarded by Clayton. Is it fair or right? Maybe not. Since home values have fallen this year, I would expect my assessment to drop next year. I won’t be holding my breath. Is that fair or right?
Metro itself and the Board of Commissioners (past and present)were the undoing of this tax increase. Why would anyone reward an organization that has squandered almost every opportunity to serve the Community. They retained and rewarded Larry Salci despite the obvious incompetence. They lost the Metro litigation, costsing the tax payers tens of millions of dollars needlessly. They have failed to concentrate on customer service. They have contolled their finances like a drunken Wall Street investment banking firm.
The blame should be placed precisely on management’s shoulders. Why haven’t we heard about shake-ups in management? Why do we just hear about how the taxpayers are to blame? With Metro, it always is, and always has been, someone else’s fault.
“We need to start fighting for what we believe in.”
go Blue: We are fighting for what we believe in… low taxes and NO TAXES going to wasteful and corrupt bodies.
Want to give away half your income move to NY, CA, or even IL
The “Yes on M” folks spend more than half a million dollars. Opponents had nothing. Perhaps some of the 95% of taxpayers who NEVER RIDE METRO believe that we already pay enough in taxes for this service. Even if Metro was the best managed agency in the country, it still serves a tiny group of people at a very high cost.