Prop "S" Crossed Supermajority Threshold to Pass

Proposition "S" $100 million bond issue to build courthouse

NEEDED 57.15% SUPERMAJORITY TO PASS

(WITH 817 OF 817 PRECINCTS COUNTED 100%)

YES . . . . . . . . . . . . 52,517 votes,  59.45 percent

NO. . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,764 votes,  40.51 percent

With all the precincts counted, tax Prop S gained the 57.15 supermajority it needed to pass. With absentee voters, the measure failed.

On April 3, St. Louis County voters were asked to approve a $100 million bond issue to fund construction on both court buildings. Most of the bond—$85 million—would be used to construct a new Family Court building next to the circuit court. The remaining $15 million would fund repairs at the circuit court.

Bonds from 1998 that funded the county's jail are being retired in the next 18 to 20 months, Beach said, as part of a pre-determined "sunset" on that 15-year tax hike.

County officials in support of the new bond issue said Prop S tax can simply replace the retiring tax—at slightly lower interest rates, meaning the measure would not raise residents' taxes. 

The measure needed a 57 percent supermajority approval by voters to pass. It represents about $8 in annual property taxes for each St. Louis County property owner.