The revenue department recently became aware of “external events promoted by outside organizations” to help seniors with their applications, revenue director Tony Smee said. written in a letter at the departmental council on Wednesday.

“We strongly discourage the public from participating in any events not approved by St. Louis County due to concerns about the safety and security of our seniors and the lack of approved protocols,” Smee wrote.

Smee said he was concerned that people outside the county were manipulating sensitive identification and property documents required for the application. The county accepts driver’s licenses, birth certificates and other private documents as proof.

Doug Moore, a spokesman for County Executive Sam Page, said he was not aware of any wrongdoing, but that some had hosted or wanted to host non-county-sponsored events, “and we discourage that”.

Moore did not immediately know if outside events had ever occurred, who was running them, how many seniors had applied through such events or how the county became aware of the problem.

County Council President Shalonda Webb, who requested that Smee’s letter be placed on the agenda for Tuesday’s council meeting, said her legislative aide had heard of such an event in the northern St. Louis County, helping residents petition for the freeze, and it raised alarms. bells.

Webb called Smee and asked if the revenue department held such events. He said no and she asked him to send the official letter.

Dennis Ganahl, who worked on the state legislation that enabled St. Louis County’s tax freeze program, said he hadn’t heard of any such events.

He encouraged people to visit one of the county offices if they need help.

Ganahl made an appointment at the west St. Louis county office and applied there. It took about 20 minutes.

“Go to the county,” Ganahl said. “They are very useful and can extract all the (property) records.”

“I would really discourage people from relying on outside sources,” he added.

Smee, in his letter to county staff and the county board, said the county has not approved any “external tax credit registration events.”

“We urge residents to use the four county sites set up by the Department of Revenue to help seniors register in person,” he wrote.

The county offers such assistance from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the following locations:

• County Government Headquarters: 41 South Central Avenue, Clayton.
• Northwest Crossing: 715 Northwest Plaza Drive, St. Ann.
• South County: 4546 Lemay Ferry Road, St. Louis.
• West County: 74 Clarkson Wilson Center, Chesterfield.

Smee said county officials understand that some seniors are homebound, don’t have internet and don’t have friends or family who can help them apply in person or online.

The county is working on a way to provide registration assistance to people who meet those three criteria, but that type of help may not be available until next year.

Page is expected to provide more information on external registration events at a press conference on Sunday.

An online application is available on the municipality’s website, stlouiscountymo.gov.

The deadline to apply is June 30, 2025.