Interesting story today that caught our eye, this one from Realtor.com in their “trends” post:
Per this writer Julie Gerstein for Realtor.com, it sounds like a town in Missouri outside of St. Louis is doing just fine for its residents — without levying a property tax at all. Who knew? Well, some of us did. Thinking people.
“Ballwin has not levied a municipal property tax since 1987, which significantly benefits both homeowners and potential buyers by reducing the overall cost of homeownership.
More good news? City services do not suffer as a result. Instead, the city funds its operations through sales taxes, utility gross receipts taxes, and recreational revenues, ensuring that residents continue to enjoy a high quality of life.
No property tax might particularly appeal to retirees on fixed incomes. For other buyers, the lack of additional taxes may allow them to consider buying a larger or more desirable property within their budget.”
Wow. Imagine that. A thriving small town that offers residents amenities, peace, and security without a property tax rate hike every other budget cycle. Oh wait. There’s no property tax rate at all! Hmmmm. It sounds like the folks in Ballwin actually own their homes and land. The fruits of their labor. They don’t de-facto rent them from a county or city government, who then threatens to throw a tax lien on them when some sky-high property tax bill isn’t paid right away.
What a concept!
MoCo Exec Marc Elrich might think such place don’t exist and don’t function well, but they indeed do. Maybe the mayor of Ballwin doesn’t have a private bathroom in his office suite at the town hall, or a security detail, or personal car service, like Mr. Elrich (and Mr. Leggett before him)… but we are guessing he gets around town just fine.
Perhaps the mayor of Ballwin hasn’t flown across the world to “recruit” companies… but we’re guessing the local economy is on par with much of MoCo’s. This is still a town of over 31,000 residents and clearly people like living there. The cost of living is undoubtedly cheaper.
Ah well. The more you know!
