HAZELWOOD • After seeking to cut ties with a fire district that Hazelwood officials say has become too expensive, the city will ask voters who live in that district whether they would be willing to pay a special tax to cover the cost of fire coverage.
The proposal on Tuesday’s ballot would create a neighborhood improvement district in the area where the city and the Robertson Fire Protection District overlap. If it passes, residents in that overlap area would pay a tax rate of $1.73 more per $100 in assessed value. The owner of a home with a market value of $100,000 would pay $329 more a year.
The measure is the latest attempt to resolve a lawsuit and longtime dispute between Hazelwood and the Robertson Fire District. The district sued the city in February 2018 after the Hazelwood City Council voted to cancel its 23-year pact with the district, saying increasing costs had jeopardized the city’s finances.
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Hazelwood says its municipal fire department could serve the area and save the city about $1.8 million a year.
The city pays the fire district tax to serve about 4,834 residents in the overlap area through a signed after Hazelwood annexed those neighborhoods in 1994. 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 largely stopped paying the district after the council voted to cancel the contract in December 2017. Officials said negotiations with Robertson had failed and that the city would have faced a deficit of at least $2 million had it continued to pay the district in full.
The fire district says the cancellation was illegal and that Hazelwood owes the district at least $3.2 million. It says the district can’t survive without the payments.
All Hazelwood residents pay a municipal tax rate of 99 cents on each $100 of assessed value. City fire service is included in that rate for residents outside the fire district.
Robertson Fire District levies a property tax of $2.72 for each $100 of assessed value.
If voters in the overlapping area approve the neighborhood improvement district, they would pay $1.73 more for each $100 in assessed value. The revenue will go toward Robertson’s fire and ambulance services. Hazelwood estimates the special tax would generate about $1.7 million a year.
The special district would be in place for 20 years, under Missouri law. Robertson voters could still approve increases to the district’s tax. Hazelwood officials said they would evaluate costs each year and adjust the tax rate accordingly.
Over the past few years, Hazelwood and the fire district have failed to negotiate a resolution. The two parties have a trial date in October.
City Manager Matt Zimmerman said Robertson had asked the city to put the neighborhood improvement district on the ballot as a potential solution. Only cities have the legal authority to propose neighborhood improvement districts.
“Robertson is telling us that residents want to keep their services,†Zimmerman said. “We have offered this to residents to determine if that’s true. If that leads to resolution of the lawsuit, which we believe it can, then that’s great.â€
The fire district’s attorney, Charles Billings, would not say whether approval of the neighborhood improvement district could prompt the district to withdraw its suit.
“If they did that than maybe we could get this thing resolved, because then Hazelwood would have sufficient funds to pay their obligations,†he said.
Ann Cronin, who lives in the overlap between Hazelwood and the fire district and previously backed a petition to have the city’s firefighters take over the area, said she planned to vote against the proposal.
“I know this is a way for Hazelwood to recoup the costs and only affect the residents in the Robertson Fire District area, but on the other hand I think them charging two and a half times the rate that our municipal department would is not fair,†she said. “I can’t afford another $800 a year in taxes for some fancy fire department that’s overpaying everybody.â€
The Robertson Fire Protection District has about 40 firefighters and covers a 14-square-mile area that includes parts of Hazelwood, Bridgeton and unincorporated St. Louis County. In 2018, it imposed among the 23 fire districts in St. Louis County.
The Florissant Valley Fire Protection District serves a third of Hazelwood under the same annexation agreement as Robertson. Its tax rate is $1.82. The city paid the district about $1.2 million in 2017 to serve about 6,157 residents.
