St. Louis County corrects online senior tax bill errors

St. Louis County homeowners enrolled in the Senior Property Tax Freeze saw incorrect increases on their online tax bills this week. County officials identified a software malfunction as the cause and are correcting the digital records.

The error affected more than 70,000 qualified homeowners. Residents who accessed their 2026 property tax information online found that the freeze was not applied. This led to higher displayed tax amounts and a surge in inquiries to county offices.

Amby Stevenson, 75, is a Maplewood resident who has lived in her home for 36 years. She discovered her property taxes had risen by $1,950 for the current year. Stevenson stated she had signed up for the tax freeze for two years. She expressed concern about paying the higher amount on a fixed income, noting she did not have the extra funds available.

Elizabeth Eisele, a county spokesperson, confirmed the department received numerous calls from affected homeowners. Eisele explained that the software failed to apply the correct base year for these properties. She described the issue as a glitch limited to the online platform. The county is currently working to resolve the error, with a fix expected within a few days.

Homeowners do not need to resubmit information to correct their online bills. However, a separate group of residents may see higher taxes because they missed the June 30 deadline to maintain their freeze for 2026. Eisele clarified that those homeowners only needed to check a box confirming their primary address rather than providing new data.

Paper tax bills will be mailed to residents in the next two weeks. Eisele stated these physical bills will show the correct property tax amounts. The online bills are scheduled to be updated sometime next week. The enrollment period for the 2027 tax freeze begins November 1 for eligible individuals.