 Government Affairs and Transportation Committee
November 16, 2007
Meeting Notes
The committee met in the conference room adjacent to the Chamber office.
Transportation
Hwy. 40/I-64 will close on January 2, 2008: MoDOT staff, including Karen Yeomans, will be at work by 4:30 a.m. that morning. Ramp work continues at Hwy. 40 and I-170. MoDOT is also re-striping the ramp for eastbound Hwy. 40 to northbound I-270 so that two lanes of traffic can head north. (This will increase the ramp's capacity by about 30%.) MapQuest has been informed of the changes but probably won't update their system. "Map My Trip" on the MoDOT website will have current information.
The re-worked interchange at Olive and I-170 will open about December 8th.
Work continues on Clayton Road. The job should be finished next summer. There have been some delays but the project is moving forward.
Hwy. 141 north of St. Luke's is one of the "top three" projects on the region's list. Chesterfield and the county are getting involved in finding money to push the project forward. The design/build contract for replacing and maintaining 800 bridges around the state has been delayed. The scope of the effort is causing the state's staff to need more time before making their recommendation. (Only a couple of the bridges are in the metropolitan area.) The winning bidder, out of two, must maintain their work for 25 years and then turn it over to MoDOT in very good condition.
Education
"Americans For Prosperity" has sent out mailing to school boards urging them to pull out of the school funding lawsuit. Many senior citizens have also gotten phone calls on the issue. David Glaser from Rockwood pointed out that the suit is costing local districts one dollar per pupil, yet, the suit could bring back - or cost - local schools hundreds of times that amount. David also noted that one of the major organizers of the "prosperity" group wants to go to a total school voucher system and eliminate income taxes. While most of us consider Valley Park to be a small sized school district, superintendent David Knes explained that Valley Park is larger than 50% of the districts in the state. Many of those small districts get almost half of their funding from the state (compared to 6% to 10% for local schools). A recent hearing on property taxes brought out a lot of senior citizens who are concerned about what they pay. David Glaser explained that the state's 'circuit breaker' has not kept pace with inflation. It provides about half the relief today as it did when enacted in 1973 because it was not indexed for inflation.
Assessment 101 Recap
Property tax reform is expected to be a hot issue for the Missouri legislature in 2008. Glenn Koenen reminded the committee that St. Louis County is the state's largest source of revenue: Our county is always going to get the most attention from state officials seeking revenue. Also, our assessor has tried to follow the law and value property as the statutes require. This doesn't always happen in rural areas.
Local Issues
The committee discussed the proposed county-wide sales tax increase for Metro Link. Concerns were raised that the tax is regressive, and, that the benefits to west county are not clear. The on-going lawsuit over construction costs for Metro's last expansion also raised important issues. The committee will look at the issue closer to the election to decide if we should take a formal position.
The Government Affairs and Transportation Committee will next meet at 8:00 a.m. on Friday, December 21 at the chamber office.
Glenn Koenen
GATC Chair
CLICK HERE FOR OCTOBER 2007 MEETING NOTES CLICK HERE FOR SEPTEMBER 2007 MEETING NOTES | 
