There is a citizens’ group that is attempting to make changes to the state’s property assessment and tax system. The South County Times has an article (via Combest) about the group’s recent rally outside the St. Louis County Administration Building. I signed the petition on their website — even though, as I have previously noted, we won the assessment lottery this year and saw a very small increase while many of our neighbors were in the 20-percent range. I signed because I would like to see changes at the state level to the assessment laws, as well as officials at the local level rolling back rates — even when not legally required.
Local officials who don’t roll back rates, or who don’t roll them back very much despite large assessment increasese, are correct in many circumatances that they don’t have to roll them back. St. Louis County government tax rates are so far below the authorized maximum that they are not required to roll back. But not being required does not change the fact that rolling back rates, even slightly, is the proper thing to do. My own ideas on improvements to the statewide system can be found here. I wish this group well. They are going to hit a brick wall when they talk to rural and urban legislators about this, though, and realize how little people outside St. Louis and Jackson Counties care about reassessment.
