West Pine Laclede Neighborhood Association
Northwest Coffee 7 PM
May 13th, 2025
General Assembly Meeting Minutes
CALL TO ORDER 7:08 pm Treasurer: Terry Werner
President: Harold Karabell
Vice President: Dug Feltch
Secretary: Nicole Ewing
GUEST SPEAKER(S)
Shawn Ordway Acting City Assessor
314-622-4050
Mr. Ordway introduced himself as the Acting City Assessor. He served as Deputy City Assessor under his predecessor Michael Dauphine. Upon Assessor Dauphine’s resignation to accept an appointment as judge, Mr. Ordway assumed Mr. Dauphine’s responsibilities in the Assessor’s office.
As a result of the current year’s reassessment, a state-mandated biennial task, there has been an overall increase in the appraised value of real property in the City. This is the result of properties being appraised at what the Assessor’s office determines to be the “true market value” of such property. The most significant increases have been multi-family apartment buildings, followed by single-family houses. Commercial and retail properties have been “struggling” recently, so their 2025 valuations often form an exception to the rule.
St. Louis City has a housing stock whose average age of construction is 1922. Any increase in valuation that exceeds 15% requires a physical inspection of the property from the outside.
“We do our best to evaluate the true market value of City real estate by viewing properties from the outside. And we assume that the outside appearance of a property is generally reflective of its interior condition,” said Mr. Ordway.
Nonetheless, the owner of any property whose increase in valuation exceeds the 15% threshold can request an interior inspection as well. In response to a question about whether a valuation actually could be increased as the result of an interior inspection, Mr. Ordway noted that “we’re not coming out to increase values as a result of an interior inspection, but our appraisals do have to reflect what we see.”
Throughout the City, valuations for single-family houses have increased approximately 17%; multi-family buildings 19%, and condominiums 7%. The neighborhoods seeing the greatest increase in valuation are Marine Villa and Carondelet, which Mr. Ordway stated have been undervalued historically. The average valuation for a single-family house in the Central West End increased slightly, from $531,000 in 2023 to $565,000 in the current year.
From May through June, any property owner wishing to contest the valuation of their property may have an informal appeal with a representative from the Assessor’s Office. From July through August formal appeals will be heard by the City’s Board Of Equalization (BOE). Any request for a formal hearing before the BOE must be made no later than July 14th, 2025.
The goal of the Assessor’s Office is to have approximately 90% of the City’s real property appraised at its true market value.
All requests for the “Senior Property Tax Freeze” must be received by the Assessor’s Office no later than June 30th, 2025. “Because each county in the State has its own rules and regulations regarding the Senior Freeze, there’s a lot of confusion out there,” said Mr. Ordway. “Of the people who have inquired about it, one-half thought they never had to pay any real estate taxes at all while the others thought that their property taxes never would go up. Both are wrong.”
The Senior Property Tax Freeze applies only to that small portion of the real estate tax bill that goes directly into the City’s treasury. The larger part of the tax bill, including monies earmarked for the public schools, remains unaffected by the Freeze. Given the current reassessment, property owners who qualify for the Freeze should be receiving credits of approximately $50-$60 each year. 6,600 notices of renewal of the Senior Freeze were sent to City taxpayers this year. The estimated loss of revenue from the 2025 Senior Freeze is $315,000 in toto.
Review and approve April 2025 MINUTES
The April minutes were posted online and sent out with the monthly announcement. Harold asked for a motion to accept the minutes. Treasurer Terry made a motion to accept the minutes, which was seconded. All in favor, motion passes. President Harold noted that Nicole, the Association’s Secretary-Extraordinaire, sent her regrets on being unable to attend the May meeting.
TREASURY REPORT Treasurer Terry
Terry reported that the WPLNA checking account contains $2,641.48; the savings account, $1,358.68; and the Certificate Of Deposit, $4,516.65. The Treasurer paid one bill in the amount of $316.20, submitted by Lorraine for supplies purchased for the West Pine median planter.
Treasurer Terry also made his usual and customary appeal for the payment of dues. Jim from the Manhattan Mews requested a statement indicating that the “bulk membership” dues for the entire Mews townhouses had been paid-in-full. Terry agreed to send such a statement in a timely manner.
SECURITY REPORT
Lauren & Katie, who both reside at the east end of the 4300 block of Laclede, reported that they had packages stolen from their front porches on separate occasions within the past few weeks. Both times the same person was involved. Following one theft, the suspect and a “colleague” were observed rifling through the stolen package on the picnic table inside the pergola across from the Manhattan Mews. The main suspect was seen stuffing the stolen items into a suitcase on rollers. Lauren circulated images taken by her security camera of the “porch pirate” who was involved in both package thefts (see image below).
Linda & Angela mentioned that there have been a handful of broken windshields on both the 4100 and 4200 blocks of Laclede & West Pine recently. One member asked why windshields are being broken when smashing a side window would suffice for anyone seeking access to a vehicle’s interior. No answer was forthcoming.
BEAUTIFICATION COMMITTEE REPORT
Sue reported on several “issues” at the west end of the 4300 block of Laclede. She is attempting to contact the management of Park Place to see if they would be willing to contribute any funds to the beautification of the street and the median planters. Sue said that she plans to attend the upcoming meeting of the Special Business District to request that the median planters be made part of the maintenance contract that currently exists elsewhere in the neighborhood (Note: Yusef Scoggins, Commissioner for the SBD, later notified Harold via text that Sue’s request has been granted). Sue also thanked Alderman Browning for agreeing to pave the severely potholed section of Laclede from Newstead to the alley that intersects Laclede just east of Park Place.
9th WARD ALDERMAN REPORT Michael Browning
The Alderman noted that he is Chair of The Board of Alderpersons’ Infrastructure Committee and Vice-Chair of the Budget Committee.
He commented on the upcoming repaving of that portion of the 4300 block of Laclede to which Sue referred in her own report. In the future, the City’s newly created Department of Transportation will have responsibility for creating an equitable, “data-based” paving plan for the entire City. This hopefully will replace the current system that allows individual Alderpersons to set paving priorities for their own wards. “The goal is to make all of our streets safe for every user, be they motorists; bicyclists; or pedestrians,” said the Alderman. “It’s imperative to put these decisions into the hands of experts in the Department of Transportation.’
The Alderman currently is putting together a “Transportation Mobility Study” for Lindell, as a framework for future developments including traffic calming devices & bicycle infrastructure. In response to questions from the membership, the Alderman clarified his comments about both bike lanes and traffic circles / roundabouts.
Alderman Browning also noted he remains “laser-focused” on creating a growing city. The city needs to encourage new housing development to ensure population growth. While there are many vacant buildings in the City, far too few of them are actually habitable.
In a response to a question, the Alderman noted that the State takeover of the City’s police department is tantamount to an “unfunded mandate” from Jefferson City. While the State will require that the City spend a specified amount on the police, no financial assistance from the State will be forthcoming. “Does Jefferson City realize that we have to pick up trash; pave streets; and provide other essential services? And do they realize that we’ve voted two significant pay increases for the police in the past few years?” The Alderman held open the possibility of a renewed legal challenged to the State’s action, although he expressed reservations about the current lawsuit initiated by the President of the Board of Alderpersons herself.
NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZATION UPDATES
Treasurer Terry Werner
Update on financials:
Checking: $2,6741.48
Savings: $1,358.68
Time Deposit (business CD): $4,516.65
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Beautification Committee Chair Lorraine Simpson
- nothing new to report
Development Committee Chair Dan Hellmuth
- nothing new to report