A History of Transit Sales Tax Initiatives: St. Charles County

St. Charles Area Transit is St. Charles County’s only transit system and is operated by the City of St. Charles Streets Division. The system is limited to 4 flex bus routes and 1 commuter bus route with the St. Charles O’Dell Senior Center serving as the hub for all the routes. Metro previously operated a bus route from North Hanley MetroLink station to Mid Rivers Mall but terminated the service in 2001.

August 1996 – Proposition M

Proposition M was a half-cent sales tax to fund a transit system in St. Charles County. Revenue from the sales tax was to fund the beginning of a county wide bus system modeled after Madison County’s system and the building of a MetroLink line likely extending from Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. The proposition was narrowly defeated despite no opposition and opinion polls that showed wide support for the proposed transit projects. Low voter turnout was blamed for the proposition’s failure.

November 1996 – Proposition M

Almost immediately after the August measure’s failure, Proposition M was put on the ballot, again, with identical language. County officials believed that the higher voter turnout typical of November elections would aid the proposition’s passage. On election day, Proposition M was soundly defeated garnering only 43 percent of the vote. Anti-tax sentimentality was attributed for the loss.

Since then, no further effort has been made to create a serious public transit network in St. Charles County.