Four elections Tuesday in St. Louis County

By Tom Weber, KWMU

St. Louis, MO. – Tuesday is an election day in Missouri, but most cities and towns have nothing on the ballot. The four St. Louis suburbs that do are Kirkwood, Brentwood, St. Ann, and Wellston.

- Most of Kirkwood will decide whether to raise property taxes by 12 cents to pay to renovate to the Kirkwood Library , and also to raise money to run the library.

The first eight cents will raise about $6.5 million to pay for a complete renovation to the building, which has some sections dating back to 1940. The other four cents will become part of the library's operating revenue and help restore some cuts made a few years ago.

The Kirkwood Library District includes most of the city of Kirkwood, with the notable exception of Meacham Park. People in that neighborhood are part of the St. Louis County Library District.

- Brentwood voters will decide whether the city needs a use tax, which is a sales tax on items bought online or mail order.

The city's website notes the city collected the tax for about two years before the Missouri Supreme Court ruled cities need local approval before implementing them. During that time, Brentwood estimates it brought in about $160,000 in use tax revenue.

The ballot language also stipulated that the use tax rate shall be the same as the local sales tax and that no one shall ever be charged both the local sales tax and use tax on an item.

- In North County, leaders in St. Ann want to increase the city's utility tax. It would increase to 9% for commercial customers and 6% for residential property.

- Wellston voters also will decide whether to increase the city's business license fee from $125 to $250.

In all four ballot questions, a simple majority is needed for approval.