ST. LOUIS – Starting Tuesday, some voters can cast their absentee ballots. While election day is still 42 days away, there’s a lot you need to know if you live in St. Louis County or City.
MSD has two important propositions on the table for voters. Starting Tuesday, you can swing by the Board of Election Commissioners to cast your application-based absentee ballot. Voters will be deciding on Proposition S and Proposition W.
Prop. W will determine how to pay for massive improvements to the St. Louis region’s waste water system. It offers voters the choice between paying upfront in cash or paying with a mix of cash and bonds. This is the impact on wastewater rates. So think of a yes vote like a mortgage.
It would approve $750 million in bonds that would be paid over the next 20 to 30 years. Customers would see small increases annually in their bill, but would end up paying more in the long run. A no-vote would cause a significant jump in sewer rates but would pay off the projects in four years with no interest.
Prop. S aims to create the first regional stormwater improvement program in St. . Louis City and County. It’s a response to the growing number of stormwater problems like flooding and erosion. If approved, Prop. S would generate about $35 million a year to pay for solutions. The money would come from two sources: a property tax for residential customers and a surface fee paid by non-residential customers
The average homeowner in the St. Louis region would end up paying about $25 per year.
Some key dates to remember: application-based absentee voting starts Tuesday. March 20 is the last day the election board can accept an absentee mail-in ballot. No-excuse absentee voting will be available from March 19 until April 1. Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., voters will have the final say on April 2.
Francis Howell has 17,000 students in 23 schools, along with 2,200 employees. The district superintendent, Dr. Ken Roumpos, said in a release that district officials recently noticed unexpected activity within their network that disrupted certain computer systems.
Roumpos also explained that the district responded quickly to make sure its systems were secure and to try to restore full functionality as soon as possible. The district is also working with third-party computer specialists to investigate the source of the issue and what impact it might have had on the district’s systems