The first League meeting of 2020 will be held at the Woodson Terrace Recreation Center, 4301 Calvert Ave, Woodson Terrace, MO 63134, (MAP). Refreshments will be served at 6:30 pm with the meeting beginning at 7:15.

Program: The 2020 Legislative Session will be dominated by the usual suspects; taxes, schools, roads and public safety.  Even though this is an election year, the legislature of off and running to start the session.  There were 672 bills and 22 joint resolutions pre-filed in the House in addition to 294 bills and 24 joint resolutions in the Senate.

Executive Director, Pat Kelly will present key bills of interest that have been filed this session impacting municipal governments in relationship to the Leagues Legislative Priorities.  This will be in preparation for MML Legislative Conference on February 11th and 12th, in Jefferson City.  

He will also discuss the does and don’ts you should follow while meeting with your representatives in the Capital.

On the agenda for consideration will be a proposed bylaws amendment to increase the number of elected board members to 7 from 5 and language to remove non-participating board members, including both elected members and past presidents.  The proposed change was presented for discussion in November.  The bylaws language will be emailed to members or mailed to city halls in advance of the meeting.

The St. Louis City Board of Aldermen failed to vote on Mayor Krewson’s nominations to the Board of Freeholders before going on winter break in December 9.  

Members of the Executive Board have met with most of the members appointed by County Executive Page and Governor Parson and asked that they schedule a meeting so that the more then 20,000 county residents and 8000 city residents that signed the petition would have the opportunity to express their opinions and concerns in a public, open forum. 

We are waiting for a reply. 

The Legislative Affairs Committee Chairman, Wildwood Councilman Tim Woerther, presented the 2020 Legislative Priorities at the November        Membership Meeting. To review the priorities go to; https://stlmuni.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2019-Committee-Report-ADOPTED.pdf

At the top of the list this year is the passage of legislation that would allow local and state sales/use taxes to be charged on purchases made from out-of-state sellers, even if the seller does not have a physical presence in the state. This was made possible following the U.S. Supreme Court reversed a 1992 ruling (Quill Corp. v. North Dakota) that held sellers only had to collect a state’s sales taxes if they had a physical presence in the state. The Supreme Court in South Dakota v. Wayfair ruled that a state may require online sellers to collect state and local sales taxes when the seller does not have a physical presence in the state.  Several bills were pre-filed this year, but like last year’s legislation the bills   include caps on local sales tax or make the new  taxes revenue neutral by reducing local sales tax. 

Currently, Missouri is one of two states that has not adopted enabling legislation and the Governor has made this a top priority. 

Other Legislation:

Senator Emery pre-filed SB 526 which greatly reduces existing municipal revenues and relinquishes control of the public right-of-way to the cable providers. The bill also gives some video    services provided a competitive advantage over their competitors.

Taken as written, the legislation could reduce local video franchise fees by as much at 93%. At a minimum revenue would decrease by 75%. For   example: The video franchise fee received by the City of Ballwin in 2018 was $411,362. Using the new formula drafted by the cable industry the City would receive $102,841, a loss of $308,522 or 75%. 

During the last meeting of the Charter Commission in December they debated two proposals; nonpartisan county elections and increasing the size of the County Council.  Ultimately, both measures fell short of the required 9 votes of the 14-member Commission.

The St. Louis County Charter requires the County Council to ask the residents of St. Louis County if they want a review of the Charter every 10 years. Follow the fallout of County Executive Stanger’s resignation, the voters approved the formation of the Commission in November 2018 ballot. 

The Commission is authorized to meet for 12 months.  They can make recommendations to change the charter which must go before the voters for approval.  In order to be placed on the ballot the recommendations must have at least 9 votes from the commission. 

If the commission fails to make a recommendation with the 12 months, the commission is dissolved.

The County Council has the power to place changes to the Charter on the ballot.  Some members of the County Council have indicated they would consider asking the council to place some of the items the commission discussed on the ballot, such as County Manager form of Government.   

To review the St. Louis County Charter go to; https://stlmuni.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/St.-Louis-County-Charter.pdf

• January 23—Sign Codes
• February 27—City Clerk 101
• March 26—Social Media Policy
• April 23—Economic Development
• May 28—Legislative Review
• June 25—Budget & Finance
• August 27—Human Resources
• September 24—Business Licenses
• October 22— Planning & Zoning
• November 18—TBD

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Recreational Trail Program is open to local and state governments, school districts, nonprofit and for-profit organizations and provides grants for a variety of projects:

• Restoration of existing recreational trails, development and rehabilitation of trailside and trailhead facilities and trail linkages for recreational trails
• Purchase or lease of recreational trail construction and maintenance equipment
• Construction of new recreational trails (with restrictions for new trails on Federal lands)
• Acquisition of easements and property for recreational trails or recreational trail corridors

Assessment of trail conditions for accessibility and maintenance.

A draft application may be sent to the grants management section staff at DNR by Jan. 31, 2020 for a courtesy review. Final         applications are due February 14, 2020.

Springfield, Missouri will host the 2020 National (CERT) Conference July 13 thru 15th at the Oasis Hotel and Convention Center.

The Community Emergency Response Team CERT     program educates volunteers about disaster preparedness for the hazards that may impact their area and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations. CERT offers a consistent, nationwide approach to volunteer training and organization that professional responders can rely on during disaster situations, which allows them to focus on more complex tasks. Through CERT, the capabilities to prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters is built and enhanced.

Emergencies occur in our communities, neighborhoods, and workplaces every day.  We also know that a large-scale disaster (such as an earthquake) will quickly overwhelm local professional responders. CERT training will prepare you to:

• Safely assist family, neighbors, and associates while waiting for professional responders to arrive
• Become better prepared for disaster
• Support professional responders, as directed, once they arrive at the scene

For more information on the 2020 National Conference or how CERT can help you and your community to be better prepared for disasters go to: http://2020nationalcertconference.com/ .