Green Park accountant Anna Cadmus gave a report on the city’s finances at the Feb. 17 Board of Aldermen meeting. Cadmus expects a significant revenue increase in 2026, largely thanks to the recently levied commercial property tax.
According to Cadmus, $67,000 of revenue from property taxes trickled in during January. She plans to regularly provide the board with data on what percentage of the levied property tax is received each month; the hope is to have a better understanding of how the tax revenue will affect the city’s finances month to month.
This is the first year since Green Park’s founding in 1995 that the city has levied a commercial property tax. That tax was set at $0.52 per $100 of assessed valuation. Other property taxes, such as residential and personal property, are still set at $0.
Due to a mistake on behalf of St. Louis County and its Collector of Revenue, Green Park’s commercial property taxes were not correctly collected in December. The St. Louis County Collector of Revenue sent out a letter, dated Dec. 31, that the commercial property tax had not been paid. According to the county, it was a third-party software error. The mistake caused obstacles and an upset among local business owners, but Cadmus says that the mistake will show as a revenue bump in the Green Park 2026 budget.
“We expected some of the tax revenue to come in December, but that didn’t happen because of an error on the county’s side of things,” Cadmus said. Because the revenue was not received in 2025 and instead will be received in 2026, Cadmus expects that the revenue “will exceed the budget” in 2026. For more information on the tax collection error, check out prior reporting by The Call from January.
As for the city’s finances, Cadmus says they were on-target in 2025, collecting about as much revenue as they had budgeted for. Green Park went over-budget on public works expenses, which she attributes to snow removal and a contract — which was supposed to be paid in 2024 — being paid in 2025.
According to Cadmus’ report, Green Park ended the year positively, with revenue exceeding expenditures by $347,000 in the general fund. The city was $13,000 over-budget in the sewer lateral fund and $268,000 over-budget in the capital improvements fund.
“We did budget for that overage, just not quite as much,” Cadmus said.
Overall, the balance between the city’s three funds increased by a total of $66,000 in 2025. At its next meeting, held in March, the board may vote for a budget amendment that would shift some expenses out of the capital fund and into the general fund to make up for the overage.
