This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Dec. 7, 2012 - The St. Louis Board of Aldermen could soon decide whether to send voters a proposal for a sales tax to redevelop the grounds around Gateway Arch -- as well as to improve local parks. The sales tax revenue would be an essential element of the ambitious plan to revive the monument in time for its 50th birthday.
Alderwoman Phyllis Young, D-7th Ward, introduced a bill Friday to place a 3/16 of one-cent sales tax increase on the ballot. The bill was then directed to the Board’s Parks and Environment Committee.
St. Louis County and St. Charles County are expected to consider such a tax as well.
Legislation signed earlier this year permits the St. Louis Board of Aldermen and the county councils in St. Louis County and St. Charles County to put a 3/16th of 1 percent sales tax increase on the ballot. About 40 percent would go to local parks. The remaining 60 percent would be split between Great Rivers Greenway to develop trails throughout the region and to the CityArchRiver project.
To pass, at least two of the three voting jurisdictions would have to approve the proposal. Voters would have to re-approve continuation of the tax after 20 years.
If passed by all three counties, the plan could raise about $38 million a year, of which roughly $11.4 million would go the CityArchRiver project, Young said.
Boosters of the project -- such as Young -- say the sales tax increase could go a long way toward improving the Arch grounds.
“People are generally supportive of the Arch because it is the thing that identifies the region. When you look on TV and anything in St. Louis, it will always show the Arch,” Young said in a telephone interview. “People are proud of it. People come down and bring visitors down to see the Arch because it is symbolic of the entire region. I think that enhancing it so that it’s more attractive and makes people come down and spend more time here is going to be extremely beneficial to the entire region.”
St. Louis County officials are also bullish about more revenue for their parks system, which was at the center of an intense budget fight last year. Young said the money to spruce up trails and parks around the region could benefit tourists and residents alike.
“When [visitors] get to the Arch, if they can then go and do things in other parts of our region, it just sells the whole region more,” Young said. “Enhancement of the trail system and the parks is going to make the quality of life better for everybody in each one of these jurisdictions.”
But not every member of the Board of Aldermen agrees.
Alderman Scott Ogilvie, I-24th Ward, said in an interview that the board shouldn't rush to pass this bill. That would
"short-circuit the conversation on whether we should increase taxes locally to fund something that we don’t own.”
Among other things, Ogilvie said he questions whether devoting hundreds of millions of dollars to the project over a 20-year-period is a proper priority.
"The plan that CityArchRiver has developed is an incredibly expensive plan. It’s a $300 million to $500 million plan," Ogilvie said. "And so now you’re talking about a chunk of money that’s roughly equivalent to something like a MetroLink expansion, funding all of the pension systems, building 30 or 40 miles of streetcars. I think we ought to have a conversation about what the region’s priority is if we’re going to spend $500 million."
On the horizon
Young said the process is starting in the city instead of St. Louis County or St. Charles County because the Board of Aldermen takes longer. The board won’t be meeting on a regular schedule over the next couple of months because of the holidays and the upcoming municipal election season.
If the sales tax is to be on the April ballot, it would have to pass the Board of Aldermen at least 60 days prior.
The timetable in St. Louis and St. Charles counties is less clear.
Mac Scott, a spokesman for St. Louis County, said the sales tax will likely not go before the council for consideration until the county’s budget process concludes later this month. Dooley and County Council Chairman Mike O’Mara, D-Florissant, expressed support for the proposal earlier this year.
"First things first, we want to get final on the budget before we start talking about the Arch tax," Scott said.
The proposal’s chances of making the ballot in St. Charles County are a bit murkier. That’s because St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann previously questioned the wisdom of using local sales taxes to pay for improvements on federal land.
A statement released from Ehlmann’s office on Friday said that the Republican executive “has not promised anyone he will not veto such a bill, nor has he promised anyone he would sign it.” The release also stated that Ehlmann “has continued to raise concerns with supporters of the Arch measure and has pledged to keep an open mind on the issue until it has had a hearing before the County Council.”
“The last thing we want to do is judge this proposal before we have heard from the public, as was done in the Missouri House,” said Ehlmann, referring to how the measure made it through the legislature.
The release went onto say that when Ehlmann testified on the bill before a Missouri Senate committee, he asked that local funds “not be used to alleviate the federal government of its responsibilities” for the Arch or that the money “be diverted to developers for tax increment finance projects.
“While he has been discussing the issue with regional leaders for the last year, he is unaware of any formal request for a bill to himself or any member of the County Council,” the release stated. “He has scheduled further meetings on the issue next week and anticipates a bill will be offered for debate.”
