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underway as well. This is a positive outcome to a situation that has been working its way through the courts for over five years. Cities and most phone companies value this compromise. The cities realize a more stable financial environment while the phone companies eliminate the potential for 10 years of back taxes and achieve the tax clarity they desire. League Policy: The League opposes legislation that would change the settlement agreement with Verizon Wireless or any agreements that may be reached with other companies. Changes would destabilize the reasonable settlement along with municipal budgets and likely renew litigation. A 3. Tax Increment Financing TIF is one of the most important economic development tools for cities. Changes during the 2007 session resulted in a new requirement for St. Louis, St. Charles and Jefferson Counties, which are likely unconstitutional as it is a special law, which is prohibited by the constitution. In addition, the legislation creates a countywide TIF commission to review and make recommendations on municipal projects. However, the bill did not repeal the requirement for a municipal TIF commission. There is a great deal of confusion over whether there should be two TIF commissions or if the new countywide commission will replace the municipal commission. Potential legal challenges to the law in the future could derail any TIF after the city has spent considerable time and money on these development efforts. League Policy: The League urges the General Assembly to act quickly to address the two problems that were created in the 2007 legislation: 1. Eliminate the unconstitutional provision that applies the new legislation only to St. Louis, St. Charles and Jefferson Counties, and 2. Clarify whether the countywide TIF commission replaces the municipal commission and whether two commissions will review each proposal. A 6. Property Taxes, Reassessment and Tax Relief for Senior Citizens Property taxes are generally considered progressive in that those who own property of greater value typically have higher incomes. But several problems arise in the property tax system in St. Louis County, including: 1. The need to evaluate each property every two years to ensure that taxation is fair; 2. Determining values of business property is difficult because true comparables nearby are rare and large taxpayers are motivated to haggle over the values; 3. Voluntary rate cuts by taxing entities, if reversed, are confusing; 4. Retirees, especially in area where values appreciate considerably, may struggle to afford the ever increasing tax bill; 5. Subclasses can be taxed differently in St. Louis County since January 1, 2003; 6. Appealing assessments is challenging and sometimes viewed as unfair; 7. The very large number of properties and their diversity is almost guaranteed to result in human error; and