Property Tax Increase Shot Down in St. Charles

This morning, the St. Charles County Council considered a plan to fund county employee pay raises through an increase in property tax rates. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the plan was withdrawn because the council lacked the requisite number of votes to overturn an objection by the county executive. Proponents said the tax boost was quite minuscule, and was needed to keep sheriff’s deputies and other workers from leaving for other jobs. Opponents say the county should hold the line on taxes during a time of economic distress.

While I am not a fan of increasing taxes, I do understand the logic and legitimacy of the few supporters of the tax increase. If you want good employees, you have to pay for good employees. But I do not recommend placing all of this responsibility solely on the taxpayers. While tax increases aren’t always necessarily a bad thing, I would prefer to see government officials figure out how to solve this issue by other means (e.g., perhaps outsourcing some county offices to the private sector).