A LETTER FROM YOUR MAYOR

 On April 3, 2018 voters of St. John will once again have the opportunity to vote on a proposed Use Tax. Proposition “U” (as in Use Tax) was narrowly defeated in the November 2017 election. Due to the continued rise in operational costs of municipal services and limited revenue growth; our city must continue seeking additional revenue measures.

The primary source of revenue for our city is sales taxes. These taxes (State, St. Louis County, and Local sales) provide nearly 62% of all operational revenues in our General Fund. These sales taxes are collected on purchases throughout our city, county, and state. Unfortunately sales taxes have become stagnant. Consumer’s spending habits have gradually shifted from purchasing at retail outlet stores to on-line internet sales. These increased internet sales have resulted in the loss of much needed sales tax revenues.

Our elected officials and city staff have done a commendable job of keeping operational costs of our city under control. Unfortunately, several cuts in purchasing and services were necessary in order to provide a balanced budget for FY2018. Some items impacted by budget cuts are: street repairs, sidewalk repairs, Rock Road landscaping, tree removal services, school crossing guard, Easter & Halloween parties, new vehicle purchases, P.W. equipment, and staff travel/training/memberships. Additionally, full-time staff will be replaced by part-time employees when vacancies occur.

When researching a Use Tax option and discovering that over 100 municipalities and 59 counties already have a Use Tax in place; your City Council believed it was time to capture this much needed source of revenue.

This trend of increasing operational costs and limited revenue growth must be addressed. We have all grown dependent and accustomed to quality municipal services. Our goal is to simply continue these services to our community. I urge you to click here and read the article about Use Taxes. If you have any questions, please call me at (314)427-7154.

Let’s continue keeping St. John a great place to live, work, and raise a family

I hope to see you all on April 3^rd

Thank you !