St. Louis County warns of property tax freeze developments

The Department of Revenue recently became aware of “external activities being conducted by third parties” to help seniors with their claims, Revenue Director Tony Smee said. wrote in a letter to the county council on Wednesday.

“We strongly discourage the public from participating in any activities not approved by St. Louis County due to concerns for the safety of our seniors as well as the lack of approved protocols,” Smee wrote.

Smee said he is concerned about people outside the county dealing with sensitive identification and property documents needed to apply. The county will accept driver’s licenses, birth certificates and other private documents as evidence.

Doug Moore, a spokesman for County Executive Sam Page, said he was not aware of any wrongdoing, only that some were either holding or want to host events not sponsored by the county, “and we don’t condone that.”

Moore did not immediately know whether the outside events had already happened, who was running them, how many seniors had applied through the events or how the county learned of the issue.

County Council President Shalonda Webb, who asked that Smee’s letter be included on the agenda for Tuesday’s council meeting, said her legislative aide had heard about such an event in northern St. Louis County helping residents apply for the freeze, and it raised alarm bells. bells.

Webb called Smee and asked if the IRS was doing similar things. He said no, and she asked him to send a formal letter.

Dennis Ganahl, who worked on state legislation enforcing St. Louis County’s tax freeze program, said he had not heard of any such developments.

He encouraged people to contact one of the county offices if they need help.

Ganahl made an appointment at the West St. Louis County office and applied there. It took about 20 minutes.

“Go to the district,” Ganahl said. “They are very helpful and can find all the (property) records.”

“I would really discourage people from going to outside sources,” he added.

Smee, in his letter to county staff and the County Council, said the county has not approved any “external tax incentive activities.”

“We encourage residents to use the four county offices established by the Department of Revenue to assist seniors with in-person registration,” he wrote.

The District offers such assistance from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the following locations:

• County Government Headquarters: 41 South Central Avenue, Clayton.
• Northwest Crossing: 715 Northwest Plaza Drive, St. Ann.
• South District: 4546 Lemay Ferry Road, St. Louis.
• Western District: 74 Clarkson Wilson Centre, Chesterfield.

Smee said county officials understand some seniors are homebound and don’t have internet or friends or family who can help them apply in person or online.

The district is working to provide enrollment assistance to people who meet those three criteria, but such assistance may not be available until next year.

Page is expected to provide more information about external registration efforts at a news conference on Sunday.

The online application is available on the district website. stlouiscountymo.gov.

The application deadline is June 30, 2025.