Plan Amendment Commission

On or before July 1, 2019, and every ten years thereafter, each Trustee shall appoint two members to a District Plan Amendment Commission.

Plan Amendment Summary

Proposition 1
⦁ Removes obsolete provisions, modernizes certain provisions, references and languages.

Proposition 2
⦁ Current Charter requires yes votes from a minimum of 2 Board Members from each appointing authority, the City and County, to pass any ordinance, rule, etc.
a. New rule: If 5 present and with unanimous consent, any 4 yes votes will suffice for passage
⦁ Ordinances shall take effect immediately

Proposition 3
⦁ Clarifies Rate Commission voting delegates and timeline.
⦁ Requires consideration of financial impact on all classes of ratepayers to determine a fair and reasonable burden.

Proposition 4
⦁ Changes compensation for Trustees and members of Civil Service Commission to $25 for all public meetings.
⦁ Average annual Board compensation changes from $300/year to $600/year

Proposition 5
⦁ Permits the District to engage the same independent auditing firm in excess of five consecutive years.
⦁ Only if District holds competitive bid for auditing services and the lead audit partner/concurring partner is changed.

On Tuesday, April 6, 2021, qualified voters of The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (the City of St. Louis and St. Louis County) shall vote on the propositions contained in the following sample ballot.

OFFICIAL BALLOT
SPECIAL ELECTION
THE METROPOLITAN ST. LOUIS SEWER DISTRICT
TUESDAY, APRIL 6, 2021

PROPOSITION 1
Shall the Plan (Charter) of The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District be amended to remove obsolete provisions, modernize certain provisions, references and language and change certain provisions to align with current practices of the District, including but not limited to (a) removing obsolete positions and titles, (b) replacing “city workhouse” with “jail or detention facility”, (c) requiring that the District present annually to the City and County only upon request, (d) adding gender, sexual orientation, familial status, ancestry or national origin and disability to the list of protected classes, (e) providing that notice of proposed rate changes can be given by posting on the District’s website and other digital media, (f) replacing “affiliated with” with “a member of’ with respect to the current requirement that no two Trustees appointed from the City or County be “affiliated with” the same political party, (g) clarifying that documents submitted to the Board of Trustees in connection with an annexation also be made available to the public (h) and recognizing, in accordance with Missouri’s Sunshine Law, that hearings before the Civil Service Commission are not public hearings.

YES
NO

PROPOSITION 2
Shall Article 5 of the Plan ( Charter) of The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District relating to the passage of ordinances be amended to provide that ( a) an affirmative vote by two members of the Board of Trustees appointed from the City of St. Louis and two members appointed from St. Louis County shall be necessary to pass any ordinance, resolution, regulation, rule or order, except that with at least five Board members present and unanimous consent of all Board members present, an affirmative vote of any four Board members shall be sufficient for passage. and ( b) ordinances shall take effect immediately upon enactment unless a later date is specified therein?

YES
NO

PROPOSITION 3
Shall Article 7 of the Plan ( Charter) of The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District relating to the Rate Commission be amended to provide that ( a) a Rate Commission Representative Organization shall only have one voting Delegate, ( b) the Rate Commission Report shall be issued to the Board of Trustees no later than 165 days after receipt of a Rate Change Notice, ( c) the Board of Trustees is deemed to have accepted a Rate Commission Report if not rejected by resolution of the Board of Trustees within 100 days from the date the Rate Commission Report is issued, and ( d) a clarification be made to the criteria governing rates so that the financial impact on all classes of ratepayers is considered in determining a fair and reasonable burden?

YES
NO

PROPOSITION 4
Shall Articles 5 and 8 of the Plan ( Charter) of The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District be amended to provide that ( a) compensation of a Trustee shall be $ 25 for each day of attendance at a public meeting of the Board and ( b) compensation of a member of the Civil Service Commission shall be $ 25 for each day of attendance at a meeting of the Commission, not exceeding $ 625 in any one fiscal year?

YES
NO

PROPOSITION 5
Shall Article 7 of the Plan ( Charter) of The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District be amended to permit the District to engage the same independent auditing firm for a period in excess of five consecutive years if the District lets a competitive bid for auditing services and the lead audit partner or concurring partner does not perform auditing services for the District in excess of 5 consecutive years?

YES
NO

Every 10 Years, the Commission members will review and suggest, to the Board of Trustees, any amendments to the Charter Plan.

On or before July 1, 2019 and every ten years thereafter, each Trustee shall appoint two members to a District Plan Amendment Commission. City Trustees shall appoint registered voters from St. Louis City and County Trustees shall appoint registered voters of St. Louis County. The Chair of the Board shall designate one of the members to serve as Chair of the Plan Amendment Commission.

Prior to June 1st of the year following their appointment, the Plan Amendment Commission shall recommend to the Board, any amendments to the Plan which the Commission deems appropriate. Recommendations must receive the affirmative vote of eight (8) members. The Commission shall be discharged and cease to exist on June 1st of the year following appointment.

COMMISSIONERS	AFFILIATIONS
2019 Plan Amendment Commission Chair:
John J. Stiffler	St. Louis Building & Construction Trades Council
2019 Members:
Ellen Nangle Borowiak
Pam Boyd	City of St. Louis
Darnetta Clinkscale
Michael J Colona, Esq.	Colona & Gentle Law Firm
Linda Goldstein	Linda Goldstein Consulting
Jake Hummel	Missouri AFL – CIO
Matthew B. Leppert	Schuchat, Cook & Werner
Rev. Earl E. Nance, Jr.	Greater Mount Carmel Baptist Church
The Honorable Gerry Welch, Mayor	City of Webster Groves
Lance LeComb
Mary Bonacorsi	Thompson Coburn