St. Louis voters will decide on Nov. 7 whether to increase the city’s sales tax by a half cent to fund increased public safety efforts.
On Friday’s St. Louis on the Air, host Don Marsh talked to St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson, who endorses the ballot measure Proposition P.
“Our police officers and our businesses and our residents deserve to have a competitively paid police department,” Krewson said, referring to St. Louis County’s sales tax, which passed last April and is set to increase police officers’ pay raise by as much as 30 percent.
Krewson allocated for more police funding to help address complaints St. Louis residents have towards the police department.
“We absolutely need a transparent and accountable police department, but the way to get that is not to starve the police department, it is to invest in the police department,” she said.
What Prop P will help fund:
- A more competitively paid police and fire department
- $1.5 million for the circuit attorney
- $1 million for mental health and social workers
- $1 million for recreation programs for children
- $1 million for summer and after school jobs
- $700,000 for demolition of vacant and damaged buildings
The tax will generate around $24 million a year. Krewson said while sales taxes are regressive, Prop P will be “worth it” to have competitively paid departments and recreational programs.
Listen below to host Don Marsh and Mayor Lyda Krewson discuss her support for Proposition P:
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