Use Taxes on the Ballot in Missouri This November
There are several cities seeking to impose use taxes during special elections on November 4. These cities include Ladue and...
Springfield Needs Charter Schools
A version of the following commentary appeared in the Springfield News-Leader. Of Missouri’s four largest cities—Kansas City, St. Louis, Springfield, and...
The Upcoming Senior Property Tax Freeze Vote in Boone County
A version of the following commentary appeared in The Columbia Missourian. Several years ago, my colleagues and I were debating...
Taxpayers should demand larger rollbacks than Hancock Amendment requires
A version of the following commentary appeared as a letter to the editor in the Columbia Missourian. Earlier this year,...
Ashland Wants to Make Its Sales Tax How High?
It may surprise you to know that cities in Missouri depend more on sales taxes and less on property taxes...
Stop Debating School Choice. Give Us Options Now!
At a recent legislative forum hosted in Boone County by the Missouri State Teachers Association, state lawmakers debated the merits...
Is This How Trust Is Regained?
After voters rejected implementing a local use tax in November, the Columbia City Council made it their mission to win...
Restoring Trust through Transparency
On Tuesday, the voters in Boone County, Columbia, Ashland, and Harrisburg went to the polls to decide whether or not...
‘Tis Time For TIF Reform
That title would make a pretty good protest chant, if you ask me. Although the use of “‘Tis” to help...
Tax Increment Financing and Columbia, Missouri
Tax Increment Financing (TIF) is Missouri’s bad idea that keeps coming back and refuses to die. Despite TIF’s documented failures,...
“We Ran From It the First Time We Saw It”
The above is a direct quote from a potential investor about a stalled development project in northern Boone County. The...
Columbia Could Benefit From Privatizing City’s Water and Electric Utilities
Columbia, like many cities across the country, faces budget shortfalls for the current year and the expected future. City officials...
I Take Your Bank Before I Pay You Out
By now, it’s old news that state and local governments awarded IBM a $31 million incentive package to persuade the...
Thanks to Government Incentives, It May Be Cheaper to Locate a Service Center in Columbia, Mo., than in India
The Columbia Missourian recently published a summary of the $31 million incentive package that the state and local governments are...
