St. Louis County Assessing Financial Impact of Hazelwood Tornado Damage

Hazelwood residents will soon know the financial impact of last week's tornado on the area. The St. Louis County Assessor's Office had staff out in Hazelwood and Florissant this week examining damage.

The National Weather Service estimated the force of the tornado that devastated Hazelwood and barrelled through Florissant at 115 to 125 mph, rating it an EF-2. That tornado was its strongest in Hazelwood on Woodcrest Lane and at Howdershell Road and Lynn Haven Lane.

Assessed Valuation

The primary purpose of the office's inspections is somewhat different than the purpose of an insurance company. County spokeswoman Martina Price said the assessor’s office is tasked with determining value for all properties within the county in a "fair and equitable manner."

During an assessment year, Price said calculating the monetary value of property consists of two elements, one value for the land alone and one value for the improvement (meaning the house or other structures on the land). 

Remember you can like Hazelwood Patch on Facebook. Don't forget to visit Twitter: @HazelwoodPatch, or signup for the Hazelwood Patch newsletter here.

Typically, the assessment is done every odd-numbered year, and the value is to be set as of January 1 of that assessment year; however, Price said state laws allow the assessor the authority to remove the improvement value of a home if it becomes uninhabitable due to a natural disaster.

"This exception only applies to residential property, not commercial," Price said. "The improvement value is zero only while the property is uninhabitable."

Crunching the Numbers

The first task for the assessor's office was to determine which houses were damaged to the point of being uninhabitable. Price said the assessor will also consider making adjustments to homes with heavy damage that are still occupied. 

"This will be examined on a case-by-case basis," she said.

There were six appraisers reviewing properties in Florissant and Hazelwood on Monday and Tuesday. Price said once the field inspections are finished, entering the data will take some additional time to complete depending on staff resources.

In Hazelwood, fire chief Dave Radel said the storm caused significant damage to just about 80 single-family homes in city limits. Nine buildings at Teson Gardens Apartments also sustained significant damage. Those buildings contain eight per unit. 

Florissant Mayor Tom Schneider said 23 home are uninhabitable in city limits with 36 sustaining moderate damage and 195 light damage.

Federal and State Support

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon said he has no plans to seek Federal funding to help with aide for the area following the tornado, but said state level assistance is readily available.

"We feel strongly that we can handle this at the local level right now," he said at a press conference last week.

FEMA Director Craig Fugate told Associated Press in 2012 that it takes an especially destructive tornado to trigger federal aid when discussing the 2011 Joplin tornado.