St. Louis County property tax errors extend beyond senior freeze program

CLAYTON, Mo. (First Alert 4) - St. Louis County says a software glitch and human error caused mistakes in property taxes that go to a dozen different places, including the Special School District of St. Louis County.

The county said last week that a software glitch caused seniors enrolled in the Senior Property Tax Freeze program to see their property taxes go up online. The county said employees were working on a fix.

Homeowners react

The county mistakenly raised property tax bills online for 70,000 seniors in the tax freeze program.

Virginia Buchanan, a St. Louis County homeowner, said she hopes the county fixes the error.

“I’m thinking I hope they get it fixed because I don’t have the money. I’m on a fixed income, to pay higher taxes,” Buchanan said.

The county’s website for checking property tax bills online is shut down while workers try to solve the software glitch.

Homeowner Joe Racher said he does not trust the system.

“I don’t have any trust at all in the property tax, taxing system,” Racher said.

Special School District rate

Property tax paid by homeowners goes to a variety of places, including the county general fund, libraries and the Saint Louis Zoo. A portion of the tax collected goes to the Special School District of St. Louis County, which learned mistakes were made with its portion of property taxes.

Cindy Wityk, the district’s chief financial officer, said taxpayers contacted the district with concerns about their tax rates.

“We had some taxpayers reaching out with concerns on their tax rates. And so, we had just conveyed to them that the county had reached out and we had verified the tax rate with them and that they were making the corrections as needed,” Wityk said.

The district increased its property tax rate this year. The increase included a one-time tax recoupment adjustment to recover revenue the district was authorized to receive in previous years but could not collect because some property assessments were later reduced or corrected.

The district is facing financial headwinds, Superintendent Dr. Michael Maclin said.

“Increased expenditures that have taken place and less revenue being brought in put us in a situation where we found ourselves deficit spending,” Maclin said.

The county mistakenly raised the district’s rate higher than it should have been. The error would have cost an average homeowner $100 to $250 more in taxes.

County response

The county said it is working hard to correct all of the tax mistakes.

A county spokesperson said Department of Revenue employees and their third-party vendor worked through the weekend and are working long days until the glitch is fixed and all corrections are made.

Homeowner Sharon Vehllewald said she hopes the mistakes end soon.

“I’m hoping that with the new people that got voted in, we don’t have all these things going wrong,” Vehllewald said.

The Special School District will hold virtual listening sessions about its financial challenges starting Nov. 11.

LINK: https://www.ssdmo.org/ssd-a-countywide-conversation