Voters to Decide on Assimilating Area 13 into Florissant

Florissant and Area 13 residents will vote Tuesday on whether to . If both the city and Area 13 voters approve the merger with a simple majority, the annexation will be approved.

The area’s boundaries are Old Halls Ferry Road, Lindbergh Boulevard and Coldwater Creek, including Spring Creek Condominiums and St. Angela Merici Catholic Church.

Florissant Public Works Director Lou Jearls said Area 13 residents already pay sales taxes that support services in Florissant, but they don’t get the full benefit from them.

“We’re one of the safest cities in America for a city our size,” Jearls said. “We do an excellent job at snow removal and street repair.

 “We’re already going to the same places, doing the same things. We all go to the Eagan Center for concerts, we have plenty of great restaurants and great parks and recreation opportunities.”

Area 13 residents have gotten temporary resident passes, so they can try out facilities at the.

One Area 13 resident, who spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity, said there’s good and bad points to being annexed by Florissant. He said that he’s satisfied with street repair and snow removal provided by St. Louis County.

“Maybe we’d get better police protection, I don’t know. But I kind of doubt it,” the resident said.

“You’ve got the community center, which has nice facilities,” he said. “My wife swims there and pays a higher non-resident fee now. And we’d like to have streetlights.”

Jearls said the area would receive new streetlights if voters approve the annexation. The city pays the streetlight energy bill.

“We have a basic standard in the city where we have a streetlight at every intersection and one every 600 feet – or wherever we feel there’s a need for one,” Jearls said. “So, they would be treated no differently than any other part of the city.”

Streetlights for the area would cost $120,000.

But the Area 13 resident also said he’s not looking forward to higher taxes.

Florissant does have a higher utility tax rate than unincorporated St. Louis County areas. The city’s utility tax rate is 7 cents per dollar, while Area 13 residents pay 5 cents per dollar on utilities, including cell and landline phones, sewer, water, electric and gas bills.

Jearls said the Florissant City Council has discussed .

The area also would receive needed street repair at a cost of about $108,000, Jearls said.

Costs for the streetlights and street repair would be spread throughout three years, he said. Area 13 has 348 housing units and would bring in more than $400,000 in additional tax revenues.

City officials sent all Area 13 residents a summary letter on the annexation and met with residents March 6.