County official warns budget cuts will close satellite office, shrink hours and curtail services

An unnamed St. Louis County official announced sweeping service reductions and facility changes on Monday after the county council cut millions from departmental budgets.

The official said the West County satellite office at 70 Clarkson Wilson Drive in Chesterfield will close, with Feb. 27 the last day residents can obtain in-person county services there. “This will be the last day that county residents can get county government services at this location,” the speaker said, adding that roughly 30 employees will be reassigned to other county facilities in Northwest Crossing, South County and Clayton.

The official said the administration will not renew the lease on the West County office, which it estimated costs about $110,000 a year to operate, and will trim public service hours at three other county locations. Public access at those centers will end at 3:30 p.m. daily, the official said, though employees will continue to work their full shifts and anyone in line by 3:30 will be served.

The speaker said the county council cut $2 million from the Department of Revenue budget and that the reduction, plus the cancellation of a temporary staffing contract, has left the department under-resourced. As a result, in-person processing of senior property tax freeze applications will no longer be offered on Fridays; Fridays will instead be reserved for staff to work through pending applications.

Parks and recreation services will also be affected: St. Vincent’s Pool in North County and the Kennedy Recreation Center pool in South County will not open this summer, the official said, citing an expensive water-main repair, unavailable replacement parts and lower community participation at those facilities. The speaker said closing St. Vincent’s would save about $200,000 in repair, management and lifeguard costs.

To address the budget shortfall, the administration proposed using Grama settlement funds as a one-year bridge and placing an Internet sales tax — commonly called a use tax — on the ballot. The official estimated such a tax could generate roughly $45 million to $75 million if approved, but cautioned that any ballot measure would take months to produce revenue: “If it goes on the ballot in August or November, we wouldn’t see any of that revenue until at least six months later.”

The official also said the county has not increased property taxes since 1985 and noted raises approved last year for police and other county employees increased baseline costs by an additional $10 million to $15 million, intensifying the shortfall.

On corrections and public health, the official said cuts to the public-health budget and jail medical services will likely affect care for residents in the county jail, and that overcrowding is the jail’s most significant problem. The speaker described a recent incident in which some detained people refused to return to cells for a few hours; staff restored order and “no one was in danger,” the official said.

The official introduced Bridal Savage as the acting director of the Department of Revenue and said staff and the administration will continue to review the budget weekly and look for creative ways to sustain services. The county will also explore temporary relocation options for services currently housed in the Clayton building after the Clayton fire marshal warned that the building’s occupancy permit is scheduled to be revoked on Jan. 1, 2028.

The administration said many routine transactions — tax payments, license applications and the senior property tax freeze — can be completed online, but officials acknowledged the changes will reduce in-person access in some neighborhoods while the county works to stabilize its finances.

The county official said further service reductions are likely and that department directors may return midyear to request additional appropriations if conditions change. The administration said it prefers to present voters with funding options rather than make permanent cuts without voter input.