By Adam Allington, KWMU
St. Louis – A task force examining property tax reassessments in Missouri got an earful from residents of St. Louis County Wednesday.
Residents say they are buckling under steep tax hikes in the wake of recent home re-assessments, which they claim are inflated in many cases.
Sarah Haenni is a spokeswoman for St. Louis County Tax Relief Now.
"It's not about the valuation, the valuations go up because of the market and that's fine, but that increase is a paper asset," Haenni said. "You don't get taxed on a stock you hold just because it went up."
Haenni claims that many tax districts experienced a windfall above what they need to function and should issue a rate rollback to alleviate taxpayer strain.
In next year's budget proposal, St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley wrote in a two-cent tax increase for every one-hundred dollars of assessed value.