ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - For months, the goal to pass legislation to freeze property tax for seniors stood still at the St. Louis County Council.
But Tuesday night, the impasse reached an end as the Council finally passed a bill to freeze property tax for seniors by a 4-2 majority vote.
Councilwoman Rita Days, a Democrat, joined with support with Republican Councilmembers Mark Harder, Ernie Trakas and Dennis Hancock to vote in favor of the bill.
Shalonda Webb and Kelli Dunaway voted against the bill, while Lisa Clancy was absent from the voting.
The vote ends months of stalled progress to get a bill passed to freeze property tax for seniors.
The Council previously listened to a proposal for the freeze back in July, but concerns from the plans included loss of revenue for schools, fire departments and other public services led to the proposal being rejected.
Councilman Trakas, who was in favor of the previous bill, spoke to KMOX before the meeting and told us he believed they were able to address the concerns from the Democratic side of the council, but wasn't quite sure which Democrat would join them to support it.
In the end, it was Days who joined to support the bill along with the three Republican members of the Council.
Trakas says he had some concerns of his own when it came to the bill, believing that the legislation may get shot down in the courts due to how different the bill's language is from the state.
"I just got a concern that the language in the bill in the county's proposed ordinance, if it may not pass the test," said Trakas, "It's just a concern, I'm not saying I'm right, it's just a concern."
The county's version says senior citizens of a certain age would qualify for the tax freeze while the states version says those who qualify for social security can qualify for the freeze.
Trakas says the states qualifications would make those with pensions like firemen and teachers ineligible for the tax freeze
The property tax freeze bill will now head to County Executive Sam Page’s desk.