Committee advances St. Louis City assessment maintenance plan, citing tornado reassessments and senior tax workload

The St. Louis City Budget Committee voted to advance Resolution 194, the city’s two-year assessment maintenance plan, after a presentation from Assessor Shawn Ordway on staffing demands, statutory timelines and the need to reassess properties in tornado-affected areas.

Assessor Shawn Ordway told the committee that “every two years, all assessors in Missouri and all 115 counties, including City of St. Louis, we have to enter into an agreement with the State Tax Commission.” He read the statute’s timing requirement for preparing and forwarding the plan and described the plan template the office uses to document procedures and resource needs.

Ordway said the assessor’s office uses the state template to show how assessments will be maintained for both real and personal property, and explained the practical implications: the office receives roughly $3.30 per parcel in state…