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Article II
County Council
Part 2
Section 2.180. Pursuant to and in conformity with the constitution of Missouri and without limiting the generality of the powers vested in the council by this charter, the council shall have, by ordinance, the power to:
1. Limit the number of deputies, assistants and employees in each office, department, board and commission; set the compensation of members of boards and commissions and of all county officers and employees not under the merit system, whether or not this charter fixes any such compensation, except that the compensation of elective officers shall be fixed at least ten months prior to the election of such officers and shall not be increased or diminished during their term of office; establish a basic monthly pay plan, including monthly flat rates for full time and part time personnel and session rates, for employees under the merit system;
2. Appropriate money for the payment of debts and expenses of the county for any public purpose; adopt an annual budget in accordance with the terms of this charter;
3. Assess, levy, equalize, remit, and collect all taxes now or hereafter authorized by the constitution or by law and prescribe a method or system to facilitate the assessment, calculation, extension and collection of taxes including the design of books and forms and the purchase and installation of necessary mechanical devices;
4. Establish and collect fees for licenses, permits, inspections and services performed by county officers and employees; require all fees to be accounted for and paid into the county treasury;
5. License, tax, and regulate all businesses, occupations, professions, vocations, activities, or things whatsoever set forth and enumerated by the constitution or by statute now or hereafter applicable to St. Louis County, charter counties, or counties of the first class;
6. Borrow money in anticipation of the collection of taxes and revenues for the current calendar year but not in excess of ninety percent of the estimated collectible taxes and revenues for such year yet uncollected; determine the amount and terms of such loans, and authorize the county executive to execute and issue warrants of the county for all money borrowed to the lenders thereof as evidence of such loans and of the terms of the county's obligation to repay the same; immediately before their delivery to such lenders, such warrants shall be registered in the office of the county treasurer by entry upon the books of the treasurer correctly stating the date, amount, serial number, in whose favor drawn, by whom presented and the date presented to the treasurer for registration; all warrants so issued and registered in connection with such loans shall have preference and priority in payment from the date of their registration by the treasurer over all warrants subsequently issued, and over all prior issued and then unregistered warrants;
7. Acquire in the name of the county by condemnation, purchase, gift, donation or otherwise, real and personal property, in fee simple title, or any estate or interest therein; exercise all the rights and powers of eminent domain and, upon condemnation and payment therefor, cause the fee simple title to such property to vest in the county; acquire by eminent domain such property or rights in property, together with any grants and privileges in excess of that actually to be occupied by the public improvement, or used in connection therewith, as may be reasonably necessary to effectuate the purpose intended and cause the fee simple title to such property or the control of the use thereof to be vested in the county;
8. Rent or lease county properties and rent or lease other property for county use;
9. Dispose of any real property owned by the county, including, but not limited to, property acquired by condemnation as excess property, to the highest and best bidder by open and public competition unless made to a former or abutting owner or to the United States or any of its agencies or to the State of Missouri or any of its political subdivisions or municipalities; and authorize county officers to dispose of personal property upon terms advantageous to the county;
10. Take and hold property in trust and provide for the administration thereof;
11. Collect and dispose of sewage, offal, ashes, garbage and refuse, or license and regulate such collection and disposal, and impose a charge for such service;
11a. Provide for the disposal of any liquid, solid, semi-solid, or gaseous waste, or combination thereof, including but not limited to, sewage, garbage, refuse, hazardous and toxic substances; license and regulate such disposal including discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking or placing of any such waste or special waste into or on any land or water, or discharged into the air, or which may enter the environment; provide for a manifest identifying quantity, origin, routing and destination of hazardous, toxic and special waste during its transportation from the point of generation to the point of disposal, treatment or storage, according to applicable law or regulations thereunder. No municipal ordinance on this subject shall be enforceable unless it shall conform to county ordinances. The expenses of regulation and licensing under this section shall be defrayed by fees from the licenses prescribed under this section and to the extent that said license fees are not sufficient to fund the regulation and licensing, such difference shall be financed by county general revenue funds or grants from the State of Missouri or the United States Government.
12. Call elections to submit to the voters propositions for the issuance of bonds of the county incurring indebtedness to provide funds for purposes authorized by the constitution and by law; call elections for any lawful purpose; establish election procedures not inconsistent with applicable law;
13. Create, organize, consolidate, and abolish departments, divisions, bureaus, commissions, boards, offices and employments, and transfer functions and duties from one department to another, but only upon recommendation of the county executive, and in the case of the department of judicial administration, upon the concurrence of a majority of the circuit judges of the county;
14. Exercise all powers and duties now or hereafter conferred upon counties, county courts, county governing bodies and county officers by the constitution, by law and by this charter and determine and make provision for any matter of county government not otherwise provided herein;
15. Acquire, establish, construct, equip, improve, extend, repair, maintain, manage, and operate public hospitals, sanitariums, health centers, institutions and clinics but no patient who is otherwise entitled to admission and treatment in any institution shall be denied the facilities thereof because of his inability to pay therefor;
16. Acquire, establish and provide for the planning, development, construction, maintenance and operation of a system of parks, parkways, recreation, conservation, forest, scenic and historic sites and facilities and to establish reasonable charges for the use of the facilities therein;
17. Establish, open, locate, relocate, and vacate public easements, rights of way, streets, alleys, public roads, highways and bridges; construct, reconstruct, maintain and repair county highways, streets, roads, sidewalks, bridges and culverts;
18. Provide for the location, relocation and establishment of county highways and bridges into and through county and other public parks, areas, reservations and institutions, and for connecting such highways with the county highway system; and construct and maintain such highways and bridges;
19. Adopt by reference, with or without modification, codes, standards, or regulations prepared by a national technical trade or a service association, the State of Missouri, or any of its agencies, or the United States, or any of its agencies, relating to traffic, building, planning, electrical installations, fire prevention, food products, air and water pollution, and all other subjects which the county has power to regulate, provided that a copy of every such code, standard or regulation as adopted and in effect shall be kept in the county clerk's office and open to public inspection;
20. Cooperate or join by contract or otherwise with any city, county, state or political subdivision or agency thereof, or with the United States or any agency thereof, for the planning, development, construction, acquisition or operation of any public improvement or facility, or for a common service; and accept, in the name of the county, gifts, devises, bequests, and grants-in-aid from any city, county, state or political subdivision or agency thereof, or from the United States or any agency thereof;
21. Provide the terms upon which the county shall perform any services and functions of any municipality or political subdivision in the county, except school districts, when accepted by a vote of a majority of the qualified electors voting thereon in such municipality or subdivision, which acceptance may be revoked by a like vote; and cooperate and contract with the municipalities or political subdivisions in the county as otherwise authorized by this charter and by law;
22. Furnish or provide within the part of the county outside incorporated cities any service or function of any municipality or political subdivision, except school districts;
23. Exercise legislative power pertaining to public health, police and traffic, building construction, and planning and zoning, in the part of the county outside incorporated cities, and on such other subjects as may be authorized by the constitution or by law;
24. Provide for the creation of districts in the unincorporated areas of the county within which may be provided police protection, fire protection, public water supply, streets, sidewalks, street lighting, sewers, sewage disposal facilities, garbage and refuse collection and disposal, and such kindred facilities as the voters therein by a majority of those voting thereon may approve, the same to be paid for from funds raised by special assessment, general taxation or service charge, or any combination thereof within such districts; and, when authorized by law, provide for the consolidation of such functions with those now performed in existing districts;
25. Grant franchises or permits in the name of the county for periods not longer than twenty years;
26. Make such rules and regulations as may be necessary or proper to establish and carry into effect the provisions of this charter and ordinances and provide for the enforcement thereof by appropriate penalties not exceeding for any one offense a fine of one thousand dollars or imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment;
27. Provide for and require the building and repairing of any road, street, highway or sidewalk in that part of the county outside incorporated cities, the cost thereof to be levied as a special assessment on all lots or pieces of ground abutting on such improvements in proportion to the front foot thereof;
28. Establish procedures for the conduct of investigations by the council or any of its committees of any question or matter on which the council may lawfully take action, including not by way of limitation, the power to issue subpoenas for witnesses and subpoenas duces tecum for books, records and documents; provide penalties for the failure to answer any subpoena or subpoena duces tecum; provide for the service of said subpoenas or subpoenas duces tecum by any officer charged with the service of process;
29. Establish a county municipal court with jurisdiction to hear and determine cases involving violations of this charter and ordinances of the county, subject to appeal by either party to the circuit court in the same manner as provided by law for appeals from associate circuit courts in criminal cases and authorize such court to accept jurisdiction to hear and determine cases involving violations of ordinances of any municipality in the county;
30. Establish uniform procedures governing purchases of and contracts for property and services all of which shall be based upon competitive bids except in those instances authorized by ordinance;
31. Provide for disaster planning and civil defense as required by law or deemed appropriate for the county;
32. Establish and provide for the financial support of programs providing legal aid or services in both civil and criminal matters to persons in the county who may be in need thereof and unable to pay therefor;
33. Provide for a county plan for the physical development of the county, which plan shall set forth policy regarding the physical development of the county, including recommendations for the most desirable use of land within the county for residential, recreational, agricultural, commercial, industrial and other purposes; for the most desirable density of population in the several parts of the county; for a system of principal thoroughfares, highways, streets and other public ways; for airports, parks, playgrounds and other public open spaces; for the general location, relocation and improvement of public buildings; for the general location and extent of public utilities and terminals, whether publicly or privately owned, for water, sewerage, light, power, transit and other purposes; for adequate drainage facilities and control; and for such other matters as may be beneficial to the county. The county plan shall contain a statement of the objectives, standards and principles sought to be embodied therein. The plan shall be based on studies of physical, social, economic and governmental conditions and trends and shall be designed to assure the coordinated development of the county and to promote the general welfare and prosperity of its people. The plan and the elements thereof approved by the county council shall be printed and made available upon request at a cost fixed by the county council. The planning commission shall from time to time review the county plan in order to assure that the plan conforms to the existing goals and policies of St. Louis County. This review shall occur not less than twelve months after the adoption of this charter and thereafter not less frequently than once every five years;
34. Establish a pension and retirement plan, including death benefits, for employees of the county and the spouses and minor children of deceased employees;
35. Make all necessary and proper provisions for carrying into execution the foregoing powers directly or by and through county officers and employees; provide for any matter involved in the transition from the present charter to this charter.
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