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2021/10/11 - Mayor's Column: City Council's Hard Work

­“AN OPEN DOOR TO O’FALLON”
A WEEKLY NOTE FROM MAYOR HERB ROACH
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From time to time, I get asked the question, “what important items are the O’Fallon City Council dealing with right now?” When this question arises, I start to go through the list of important responsibilities of our 14 City Council Members. This year, they have a very heavy schedule with everything that we are doing to keep O’Fallon moving forward in today’s trying times.

The City Council has the responsibility of overseeing our city expenditures, approving new developments and new commercial structures, setting tax rates, establishing budgets, setting policies & regulations, and responding to citizens inquiries. In addition, this year they have a very busy next four to five months. 

During the next few months they will be working on items that will set the tone for our city’s future growth and development over the next 20 years.

Below is a list of some the items they will be making decisions on:

  1. The continuation of a review on the types of taxes that the city will use to make it more equitable for all our citizens and to try to reduce the burden on our citizens.
  2. Establish the real estate tax rate for this year.
  3. Review and establish a new 20-year Master Plan for growth and development in the City.
  4. Establish new City Council Ward Boundaries based on the 2020 Census.  This will impact the boundaries of each ward due to the growth that our city has had.  Cities are required to rebalance the wards after each census.
  5. Start work on the new budget for 2022-2023.
  6. Review our 5-year Capital Improvements Plan (CIP).
  7. Continue to monitor and take steps that will help our Citizens and Businesses get through COVID.

They don’t ask for it but the next time you see one of your council members, it would be nice to say thank you for the work that they do for our city and for you.

As residents of O’Fallon, you should always be able to reach out to your elected officials and ask questions about what is happening in O’Fallon. Having open communications is important to me and something I care very deeply about. Thank you for reading, and please remember, my door is always open!