St. Louis City Council members voted 3-0 Tuesday to approve new requirements for property owners wishing to be excused from paying property taxes on account of poverty.

To be eligible, a person must jump through several hoops, including:

Be an owner of and occupy as a principal residence the property for which an exemption is requested.

File a claim with the board of review accompanied by federal and state income tax returns for all who live in the house.

File a claim reporting that the combined assets of all persons do not exceed $5,000, excluding homestead equity, cash value of one motor vehicle and home furnishings.

Meet the federal poverty income guidelines.

Assessor Teresa Ward told the council that she usually has just one poverty exemption per year.

Dalis to the Rescue

Council members voted 3-0 to adopt a resolution to recognize Dalis to the Rescue “as a nonprofit organization in the community for the purpose of obtaining charitable gaming licenses.”

Dalis Hitchcock is the owner of D-Tails pet grooming on the north side of downtown. She has also been involved in finding homes for rescued pets, hence the formation of Dalis to the Rescue in 2015. Hitchcock is planning to announce the raffle fundraiser of a red car in the near future.

Here are the things that Dalis to the Rescue does, according to the organization’s bylaws.

Parking on Corinth

The wheels are in motion to establish a no-parking zone on Corinth Street between Prospect and Olive.

Mayor Jim Kelly brought the situation to the administration’s attention late last year. It wasn’t a problem, he said, until last summer’s road reconstruction and the addition of curbs. Parked cars can’t get far enough to the right to get out of the way of traffic.

City Manager Kurt Giles said the designation of that section of Corinth as a no-parking zone is in the works, after which no parking signs will be installed.

Five-year parks plan

The council voted 3-0 to approve the recently completed five-year parks and recreation plan after a public hearing in which no one cared to speak about the plan, pro or con. See an older Sentinel story below for a description of the parks plan.

Rooster problem

On a lighter note, Mayor Pro-Tem Melissa Allen asked Police Chief Richard Ramereiz Jr. for an update on information she passed on two or three months ago after hearing the sound of a rooster crowing while walking near the library (because it’s illegal to keep chickens in St. Louis).

Ramereiz said he notified Dori Foster of ordinance enforcement but hadn’t yet followed up to see if she turned up anything.

This reporter contacted Foster by email Wednesday and received this reply: “I do believe the problem has been taken care of. I contacted a landlord of whom I thought the rooster was at and he contacted me a day later and stated he had taken care of the situation.”

Attendance

Mayor Jim Kelly, Mayor Pro-Tem Melissa Allen and Councilman Jerry Church attended the meeting. Councilmen George Kubin and Tom Reed were absent.