By: Mayor Barry Greenberg and Ward 3 Council Member Nick Homa
As two of your elected representatives, we are united in our support for Proposition M.
If you have tuned into our city council meetings over the last six months, you may have heard one or both of us, together or separately, talk about the top-notch city services provided to our constituents. We have an exceptional City Manager. Our Public Works Street Division is the best in the county. Our Police Community Resource Bureau keeps vulnerable residents out of the court system. Our Housing Inspectors work proactively to protect tenants. Our front counter personnel provide answers and support for every phone call and in-person visit, whether or not it is related to city business.
Our City Hall building is the heart of our local government and should reflect that quality of service. It doesn’t.
City leaders have discussed the need to renovate City Hall for almost two decades. When the fire station was built a decade ago, the responsible decision was to defer major City Hall improvements to control costs. That made sense then, but facility conditions have continued to deteriorate, construction costs keep rising, and operational constraints affect city services. Proposition M provides a solution to these problems.
We are acutely aware that many see this as poorly timed. We began spirited and public discussion of this proposition, and whether to send it to the people of Maplewood by placing it on the ballot, long before militarized ICE forces acted as judges, jury, and executioner when patrolling our nation’s bluest cities. We support our Maplewood Police Department and believe them to be a shining star in our region but also know that asking for additional taxpayer funding to support law enforcement is unpopular right now.
Proposition M addresses City Hall and police facility deficiencies, not operating costs. This project will not add officers or increase the police operating budget. It will provide the basic infrastructure needed for our professional and law enforcement staff to perform their day-to-day duties. It would also create police processing infrastructure here that keeps our police staff in Maplewood, preventing our taxpayer dollars from flowing to Richmond Heights to cover costs associated with processing, transport, holding, and monitoring of arrested individuals.
Many have raised concerns about the financial implications of this proposition – those concerns are valid and we hear you. However, we firmly believe that the long-term benefits of Prop M will far outweigh the current costs. By investing in our city’s infrastructure now, and using bond financing to do it, we will spread these costs over twenty years while preserving capital funds for ongoing needs and maintaining healthy reserves. This is standard municipal practice, maintains our AA credit rating, and is fiscally responsible.
Proposition M will provide the necessary funding to modernize City Hall, ensuring we have the infrastructure to serve you effectively and efficiently for many years to come. Improved technology, more accessible public spaces, and upgraded facilities will enhance our ability to respond to constituent needs and foster greater community engagement.
Your vote for Prop M situates Maplewood for continued success in the years to come. Together, let’s invest in our future.
Vote YES on Proposition M. Election Day is April 7, and City Hall is open as a polling location from 6am to 7pm. We look forward to seeing you there!
Sincerely,
Mayor Barry Greenberg, Council Member Nick Homa
Why Not Use Existing Funds?
- Capital improvement sales tax brings in ~ $1.6 million annually but is fully committed to streets/sidewalks, fleet vehicle replacement, equipment leases, snow removal equipment, fire apparatus, and other critical capital equipment. Using it for Prop M would mean suspending all street repairs, equipment replacement, and infrastructure maintenance for the next 6-7 years
- Our fund balance of ~ $12 million serves as the City’s emergency savings account for unexpected events, cash flow management, and financial stability. We maintain reserves consistent with best practices for municipal fiscal management. Depleting our reserves would eliminate this financial cushion, damage our AA credit rating, and leave Maplewood vulnerable to crisis.
- Some residents believe Prop P sales tax covers most or all of the Police Department budget, which is incorrect. Maplewood receives approximately $530,000 annually from county-wide Prop P. The remaining $4.35 million is transferred from the City’s general fund.
What This Costs
- For a home assessed at $57,000 (market value of around $300,000), Prop M adds $11.88 per month to your property tax bill, or $142.56 per year.
- Construction costs have increased ~9% since we started seriously discussing this project in 2024. Deferring now means higher costs later.
- Our residential property tax has dropped 18% over the past decade. With Prop M, the rate would be comparable to 2018. We have not raised the debt service levy to fund bond projects in over 25 years. Your municipal pool and fire station were built without a debt service levy increase, and all Prop S (streets/sidewalks) projects have been funded without an increase. City taxes make up only 11% of your total property tax bill.
What You Get
- A City Hall for everyone – a modernized, functional building for residents and the employees who serve them. No crumbling exterior, insufficient entry ramps, narrow corridors, or outdated restrooms.
- Long term Savings – fixing the building now avoids rising construction costs, costly workarounds, and expensive emergency repairs.
Continued exceptional services.
See for yourself. Tour the facility and see these conditions firsthand or join us for coffee and conversation.
Prop M Public Tour
Saturday 3/28/26 – 10:00am – City Hall – 7601 Manchester Road
Coffee with Mayor and Council
- Sunday 3/29/26 – 10:00am – Kentzo Coffee (2500 Sutton Blvd)
- Wednesday 4/2/26 – 10:00am – Maplewood Deli and Coffeehouse (7298 Manchester Rd)
Paid for by Yes on Prop M
Voting No. I would like to see the data/facts behind the claim of “better facilities, better services”. Sidewalks are falling apart and not being properly repaired. There is a major lack of police presence in our neighborhoods, lots of cars ignoring stop signs and speeding especially around the elementary school while kids are walking to school. Property tax increases have hammered county and city residents over the past few years and while the cost may not be impactful for some, others are struggling to get by.
Why is this not showing up on the main site page? Also, there are more than 2 comments and I am only able to see two.
There is necessarily a delay for approval of comments – there are many more obviously spam comments submitted than authentic.
Voting NO, for all the reasons already listed by other posters. Maplewood use to be affordable, but not so much anymore. Leave the homeowners alone! We are all struggling to stay in our homes as it is, especially the seniors who have been here for many years. City Hall and Police Station look fine to me. Vanity project proposal at the wrong time.
Timing is indeed everything and this is most definitely NOT the right time!
I remember when the City took over the former Sutton Bus Loop. The first idea was to turn it into a parking lot. The neighbors came to City Hall and made the point that kids needed an open space to play to keep them out of the street. The next step from City Hall was to solicit plans from architectural firms. We were told the existing historical Pagoda Shelter had to go and the existing bathroom couldn’t be converted for public use. We got all these elaborate and expensive plans for bandstands and playgrounds, when what was needed was an open green space for kicking soccer balls and practicing t-ball. Eventually we got what we needed: a plan to convert the existing bathroom and to stabilize the pagoda and leave an open green space where kids can play and people can sit.
I kind of feel the same way about Prop M. I believe that City Hall needs to be repaired and updated, but does it really need $10.3M to repair it and make it more efficient and useable? I feel as though the City threw all their “nice to haves” into the plans to generate that figure, and haven’t respected the taxpayer by showing us what the “need to haves” are or sharing the cost comparison of various options – if we remodel a holding facility for prisoners into City Hall, how does the cost of building and operating that actually compare with using Richmond Heights? I don’t want someone giving me words in a Q&A session, I’d like to see options and data on these points.
Lastly, every time I read a Prop M blurb from City Hall about how our taxes have “dropped 18% over the last decade” I snort. That’s looking at taxes as a % of home value. Because of rising home values due to “flippers” and tax increases, the actual property taxes we write a check for have increased by 55% from 2015 to 2025!!!!! It seems disingenuous for Prop M supporters to frame the increased dollar amounts of taxes we are all paying as “dropping 18% over the last decade” when in actual dollars, they’ve risen quite a lot, and Prop M would raise them more – right when Jeff City is talking about tax changes that would have most folks paying a lot more in sales tax and paying sales tax on things that aren’t taxed now, like medical care.
Maybe Prop M is a great idea, but the arguments being offered for it seem unpersuasive.
Page 275 of the Maplewood City budget shows 100% of police funding comes from P. So, was the author of this article incompetent , or just the person in charge of our actual city budget?
Josh Horn – Neither. This is an error in the budget book. The city receives approximately $500k from the county’s Prop P. The remainder of the annual police budget is transferred in from the general fund. City staff will correct the way the book auto-pulled and interpreted the data from the city’s budget software. Inter-fund transfers also augment the fire department and capital improvement budgets. I appreciate you identifying this error in the city’s budget published to the website – it’s in the process of being corrected. If you have additional questions or concerns about Prop P and the police budget, city staff are available at 314-645-3600 or stop by city hall during business hours.
It’s time for Maplewood residents to stop rubber-stamping every tax increase for the last 20 years. Working families cannot afford to pay more taxes right now. Vote NO on Prop M!
Agree!
Lots of valid points here. And yes-I am told our property taxes are close to those of Clayton or Ladue-IF true, we need a reality check cuz this town ain’t either of those in any way.
“However, with the circus of city hall regarding personal law suits, all the former mayor drama, putting people in power without the professional background and now this vanity project, Maplewood feels more like living in a joke. This could be an episode of Parks and Rec.”
Or an SNL skit that got cut because it was too outlandish to be believed. The Performative theatrics from a few of our council members regarding the unhoused is a spectacle…and at the end of the day, it’s political theater as we see prices continue to rise for rent and home sales.
I’m voting NO and I encourage others to do the same. We already have some of the highest personal property taxes in the county and this will only add to it, pricing out low-income families; the very people the city hall likes to brag about welcoming to the community for optics, then continually raising prices, allowing big builds, and skyrocketing home sales.
The city hall salaries also seem inflated. If the city hall employees want a new space or feel their building isn’t up to snuff (I with in a building that is older and an just fine), they can either quit and find work at a “better facility” or consider trimming the fat on those inflated salaries to fund this ridiculous proposition.
Maplewood is no longer affordable for the many families. I find it hypocritical of the city to want to raise what the citizens pay (which is already way too much) to make the space they work in upgraded. I’ve been to city hall. It’s a fine city hall and comparable if not better than many other municipal buildings in the county.
Lastly, I look around Maplewood and think there are other priorities that need addressing rather than a city hall vanity project. What are their plans for the unhoused? They take away a bench at a bus stop out of “drug” fear, yet do nothing to actually do anything constructive about it. Speeding on residential streets is out of control and I see nothing happening and no improvements (besides a few speed bumps but not on the highest traveled, fastest), car break ins are rampant and when was the last time our parks were improved.
I used to love living in Maplewood and took a lot of pride on that. However, with the circus of city hall regarding personal law suits, all the former mayor drama, putting people in power without the professional background and now this vanity project, Maplewood feels more like living in a joke. This could be an episode of Parks and Rec.
I hope there’s enough people in Maplewood that see through this attempt to take effect more money from its already financially stressed citizens. Costs of everything continue to rise. This project could get an initial bid, then with continuing price increases on everything, end up costing way more. The building is fine. What happens if this passes along with rising costs to simply live, then perhaps losing your job? Is it worth more money out of your pocket just so these outdoor in city hall (who make 60,000 to many making over 100,000) can get an upgraded place to work to take even more of your money? Vote NO!
I get mixed up with all of these prop letters-what was Prop J? I know it was really stupid and failed but wasn’t that giving freebies out to people who didn’t even live in the town?