51ºÚÁÏ

The fee, sought by the Metropolitan 51ºÚÁÏ Sewer District, was the ballot proposal that would probably affect the most people out of the long list of proposed tax increases, bond issues and other propositions voters across the metro area weighed. The district serves 51ºÚÁÏ and most of 51ºÚÁÏ County.

51ºÚÁÏ County voters approved a proposal by the County Council to split the county counselor’s office into three divisions to independently provide legal representation for the county’s three branches of government.

Voters in Lincoln County and Jefferson County overwhelmingly approved tax increases for their county 911 dispatching services. De Soto residents also approved a sales tax increase of one percent to fund police and firefighters.

Hazelwood voters rejected a proposed neighborhood improvement district. Ferguson approved a change to the city charterÌýto give the city council power over hiring and firing a police chief. And Brentwood voters overwhelmingly approved a sales tax increase to fund improvements to theÌýManchester Road corridor.

The MSD fee narrowly won approval in 51ºÚÁÏ, with about 51 percent of the vote in support. But in total, nearly 54 percent of votes in both the city and county were against the measure.

MSD had said the fee would amount to an extra $2.25 a month or less on most residential property owners’ sewer bills and would be based on the square footage of rooftops, driveways and parking lots.

The sewer district sought the fee after a decade of legal uncertainty about whether it could charge customers a fee based on the square footage of their homes. MSD estimates a backlog of $500 million in flooding and erosionÌýissues caused by rainfall across its service territory that would have taken about 30 years to catch up on even if voters had approved the fee.

The vote Tuesday came three years after voters gave MSD the authority to adjust property tax rates to pay for stormwater infrastructure maintenance with a uniform tax rate of 12 cents for each $100 of assessed value. The tax funded MSD’sÌýmaintenance of stormwater sewers and tunnels but provided no money for new projects.

County approves splitting legal counsel

In 51ºÚÁÏ County, the proposal to split the legal defense for each county government branch is part of a political tug of war between the County Council and County Executive Steve Stenger. The council has complained that the counselor’s office, which reports to Stenger, doesn’t adequately represent the council in disputes with the executive. The council put the measure on the ballot over Stenger’s objections and after voters rejected last August a different charter change that would have allowed the council to hire its own outside attorneysÌýin such situations.

Hazelwood proposal loses

Hazelwood voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to have residents in an area where the city and the Robertson Fire Protection District overlap pay the district’s tax. The proposal was rejected by aboutÌý74 percent of absentee voters and voters in one of the city’s four precincts.

The City of Hazelwood has paid the Robertson districtÌýto serve about 4,834 residents in the overlap area through a court-ordered agreement signed after Hazelwood annexed those neighborhoods in 1994. The City Council voted in December 2017 to largely stop paying the district after tax increases approved by Robertson voters over the years raised the city’s bill to $3.6 million in 2017 from $1.16 million in 1995. The city said that Robertson’s increasing costs jeopardized the city’s finances and that itsÌýmunicipal fire department could serve the area and save the city about $1.8 million a year. Robertson sued the city in February 2018, arguing that the cancellation was illegal and that the city owed the district at least $3.2 million.

Ferguson city council gets more power

The Ferguson City Council’s effort to wrest more power from the city manager in hiring and firing the police chief received support from about 53 percent of the votes cast Tuesday. The measure changes the city charter to bring it into compliance with a Missouri law enacted in 2014 saying city councils are the proper entities toÌýterminate police chiefs. It also gives the council final approval by a majority vote to the city manager’s pick for police chief.

The vote comes as the city searches for a new full-time police chief. Former chief of 2½ years Delrish Moss left the department in November to care for his ailing mother in his native Miami. Moss took over in Ferguson in June 2016 after two interim chiefs led the department after theÌýresignation in 2015 of Chief Thomas Jackson.ÌýA federal monitor oversees the department under a Department of Justice consent decree.

Tax increases for 911 dispatching, public safetyÌý

Lincoln County residents overwhelmingly voted to increase the sales tax countywide by a half-cent to fully fund the 911 emergency telephone system in the county and central dispatching for the 16 police, fire, and medical public safety agencies. The measure passed with about 65 percent of the votes. The tax replaces the landline surcharge, which brings in less than 50 percent of the system’s budget, and eliminates the fees paid by user agencies to cover the rest of the cost.

Jefferson County residents voted to extend for another 10 years a one-quarter of one percent sales tax voters approved in 2009 for providing 911 emergency telephone service and the central dispatching of ambulance, police, fire protection and other emergency services.

In other results:

• Voters in University City, De Soto and Washington approved tax increases to fund their respective municipal library districts.

•ÌýBrentwood voters opted to enact a half-cent sales tax for increased economic development until 2044. City officials estimate the tax increase to 9.613 cents from 9.113 cents will generate about $3.2 million per year for improvements to the Manchester Road corridor.

•ÌýWebster Groves voters overwhelmingly approved the city’s borrowing $5 million to build and equip a new firehouse to replace its Fire House No. 2 at South Elm Avenue. The measure passed with nearly 84 percent of the vote.