Voters on Tuesday approved two Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District propositions — a $750 million bond issue to pay for the next four years of legally required work aimed at reducing sewage overflows into waterways, and a property tax increase to address flooding and erosion problems.
Voters passed MSD’s Prop W, the multi-million-dollar bond issue, by an overwhelming majority. Prop W garnered 79,090 “yes” votes, accounting for 79.40%. The “no” votes came in at 20,525, or 20.60%.
The passage of Prop W will mean monthly residential bills will increase roughly 7% annually over the next four years, according to MSD officials. The typical residential customer will see monthly bills increase from about $61 next year to roughly $75 in 2028.
Had the measure been rejected, residents’ monthly bills would have increased even more, according to MSD officials.
MSD’s Prop S, the property tax increase, passed with 55,522 votes, or 55.70%. But 44,002 people, or 44.21%, voted against the measure.
The passage of Prop S will mean the creation of a regional stormwater improvement program in response to thousands of requests to deal with a growing number of problems with flooding and erosion.
Prop S will generate about $35 million from two sources: A property tax for residential customers at 7.45 cents per $100 assessed home valuation, and an impervious surface fee paid by non-residential customers.
Based on a median home value of $176,000, the average homeowner in St. Louis will pay about $25 per year.
Prop S also adds new charges on commercial customers of $1.05 per month for every 1,000 square feet of impervious surfaces such as parking lots that don’t absorb stormwater.
