Page 405 – Show-Me Institute

Increased Fire Tax in Kirkwood? Why Now Indeed!

Posted on March 23, 2015May 5, 2026 by John Wright

A leaflet arguing for a tax increase surprised some Kirkwood residents this month when they found it tucked into their city-issued electricity bills. The tax advertised in the leaflet would up the sales tax rate by 0.25 percent in order to add new cross-trained firefighter/paramedics to Kirkwood’s Fire Department. With the need for municipal fire services in decline and only an increase in EMS cited as justification for the tax increase, I can’t help but wonder if this tax hike would unnecessarily nickel and dime people choosing to spend their money in Kirkwood.

Let’s break this down. Since the 1970s and 1980s, when fire alarms, new technologies, and improved building standards decreased the number and severity of fires in the country, there has been a steady increase in the number of people employed as firefighters. You might think the number of people employed to fight fires would decrease as the need for fire response decreased. You’d be wrong.

To compensate for this decrease in the demand for their services, fire departments began taking on the broader role of providing emergency medical services—that is, driving ambulances and providing on-the-scene support to people involved in accidents. Fire departments might have saved money if they then decreased the number of people employed as firefighters and invested more heavily in paramedics and EMS equipment, which typically cost less, but that didn’t happen.

Here we have a textbook case of mission creep, the tendency of government organizations to gradually shift their goals and expand their purpose. Society no longer needs as many people fighting fires, yet because government lacks an efficient mechanism for linking supply and demand, we continue to spend an increasing amount of tax revenue on fire protection. Government has a tendency to grow, even as needs shrink.

If the city of Kirkwood wants more paramedics, then they should hire more paramedics, not firefighters. Shifting resources to pay for more EMS and less fire services, or even privatizing certain functions, could help pay for this. It’s simply a waste of money to raise taxes to hire workers for an unneeded and more expensive job.

New Video on Public Financing for NFL Stadiums

Posted on March 20, 2015May 5, 2026 by Joseph Miller

Recently, Reason released a video on public financing for stadiums. In it, they show how sports stadiums are bad public investments from an economic standpoint, which we have reported here many times. Check out the video and see the answer to the question: “Even though study after study has shown little to no economic benefit, why do cities continue to be so stupid when comes do building stadiums?”

Mark Your Calendars, Kansas City and St. Louis: Michael Cannon is Coming to Town

Posted on March 20, 2015May 5, 2026 by Patrick Ishmael

Michael Cannon is the director of health policy studies at the Cato Institute and is one of the most prominent figures in the free market movement today. Cannon’s national influence extends to a wide swath of health care issues, but lately it’s his work focusing on the health insurance subsidies of Obamacare that has been most prominent. With Case Western Reserve law professor Jonathan Adler, in 2013 Cannon co-wrote “Taxation Without Representation: The Illegal IRS Rule to Expand Tax Credits under the PPACA.”

If that topic sounds strangely familiar to you, fear not; it is indeed the topic at the center of the King v. Burwell case, which is currently before the Supreme Court. Cannon has been instrumental in not only providing the research that undergirds the plaintiffs’ case, but he has also been instrumental in delivering clear, concise and compelling explanations of what the government did with these subsidies (and why it matters) to audiences across the country. Michael’s Washington Journal segment below, recorded for C-Span earlier this month, provides a good preview of what he’ll be talking about next week.

I hope you’ll be able to join us, either in Kansas City on March 25 at 5:30 pm at the Kansas City Club, or in St. Louis on March 26 at 5:30 pm at Saint Louis University. Both promise to be excellent events.

Happy Sunshine Week!

Posted on March 20, 2015May 5, 2026 by Brittany Wagner

This week marks the 10^th Anniversary of Sunshine Week. It’s a time to celebrate freedom of information, but also serves as a reminder that there are still some dark corners of government in need of transparency. In a recent study, the non-profit organization, Better Together, tried to obtain financial and operational information from municipalities using the state’s Sunshine Law.

The report found that some cities responded quickly and at low cost, while others did not. Deputy director of community based studies Marius Johnson-Malon was quoted by Saint Louis Public Radio:

“Sometimes we were met with different requests for money up to $2,000 to provide the information we were looking for. Sometimes people would say it was going to take up to six months, and that is in contrast to some municipalities that got us the information on the same day they received the request and provided it for free.”

Johnson-Malon’s experience with varying transparency is not rare. I encountered a similar issue while requesting information regarding public school collective bargaining agreements. Some districts emailed the information within minutes at no cost. Others referred me to the district attorney or offered to retrieve the information at costs of up to $100.

Collective bargaining in public schools should be transparent, but as SMI Policy Researcher John Wright has pointed out, a legal loophole allows collective negotiations between school districts and teachers’ unions to remain behind closed doors.

Last month, a bill was introduced that will open collective negotiations to the public. Parents and taxpayers have the right to know what demands unions are making, especially if those demands affect the education of children.

The Missouri Sunshine Law may be nothing like a subscription to the Jelly of the Month Club, but as Eddie in Christmas Vacation famously said, it’s “the gift that keeps on giving all year round.” Happy Sunshine Week!

Righting the Wrongs of the Power & Light District

Posted on March 19, 2015May 5, 2026 by Patrick Tuohey

One of the reasons Kansas City is on the hook financially for so much on the Power & Light District is its low assessment value. Back in 2009, Cordish, the project developer argued that the project’s value should be $12.3 million. Jackson County disagreed, and Cordish sued. According to Steve Vockrodt, then of the Kansas City Business Journal:

That [Cordish] valuation, which equates to an average of about $24 a square foot, is a far cry from Jackson County’s appraised value of $160 million, roughly $270 a square foot, which is what county officials say the district is worth for 2009, including Cosentino’s Downtown Gourmet Market.

“They said that $12 million was their number for 500,000 square feet when everything is completed,” said Jeph BurroughsScanlon, a Jackson County spokesman.

“We want to make sure we’re right on it,” said Curtis Koons, director of the county’s assessment department. “We just don’t feel $24 on a brand-new commercial venture is realistic.”

Vockrodt’s story went on to include a this statement on the City’s exposure to debt:

Kansas City Councilman Ed Ford said he was told by city attorneys that the Power & Light District’s dispute would not put the city on the hook financially.

“It looks like the city is not going to have a dog in the hunt on that,” Ford said.

Ford may have been talking about the lawsuit, but of course the city did have a dog in the hunt on the valuation. A low property tax assessment meant there would be less money required of Cordish (as taxes are not voluntary) to keep and apply toward their bond payments. And while, in a normal world, any bond shortfalls would be made up by the people making money off the project, Cordish is not a normal company and Kansas City is not a normal world.

In May 2015, Jackson County will again assess the value of the Power & Light District. Now that the facilities have been improved, will their value jump? After all, according to The Kansas City Star, things are booming:

[Cordish’s executive director of the Power & Light District Nick] Benjamin thinks district revenues are likely to continue growing, as the district has finally reached 94 percent occupancy. More than 50 tenants, including 22 locally owned tenants, have 450,000 square feet of retail space leased.

If Jackson County argued in 2009 that the Power & Light District should be valued at $160 million, the valuation should be much higher now, given the high occupancy rates. A higher assessment will mean more taxes paid by Cordish. And while Cordish will get to keep these taxes, they will in effect be paying more toward their own bond debt, meaning a lower taxpayer subsidy from City Hall. Even a large increase in the valuation for Power & Light won’t result in a big savings for Kansas City, but it would be something.

It’s too late for city planners, political leaders or their attorneys to be considered geniuses for the disastrous Power & Light deal. But an aggressive effort to make sure Cordish is paying it’s fair share of property taxes to Jackson County would at least suggest that Kansas City leaders truly have learned a lesson.

School Choice and Bullying

Posted on March 19, 2015May 5, 2026 by Brittany Wagner

‘If I went here, I would have enjoyed learning,’ said a prospective parent at the New City School in the north Central West End.

The response isn’t unusual. New City is a beacon of creativity in education. The private school is known for its academic prowess and unconventional atmosphere, where students call teachers by first names and climb to the tops of tree-house-like structures to use classroom computers.

Of all the fascinating elements that make New City one of the top schools in Saint Louis, the most interesting feature is its students.

‘There’s no bullying here,’ said one of the sixth graders I interviewed. Several other students went on to explain that diversity education is taught early on—individuality isn’t just tolerated, it’s celebrated. In a time when bullying has progressed from the playground to the internet, the perspectives of New City School students are rare.

According to one study, bullying victims are two to nine times more likely to commit suicide, the third leading cause of death among young people.

Since bullying often occurs outside school property after hours, public school administrators can do little. Families who cannot afford to move or pay private school tuition are left without options. This is close to the situation Las Vegas mother Natika Bird found herself in before her daughter took her own life in early March.

“She had been getting bullied for a long time, to the point where the happy, bubbly girl that I knew changed,” she said. “They hacked into her email and they created a Facebook page and they massacred her.”

Bird said she had discussed the situation with Clark County School District police.

“The school police told me because it was not on school campus and after hours, I needed to call the regular police. The regular police told me, ‘You need to call the school police,’” Bird said.

Public schools have often addressed bullying through prevention campaigns and anti-bullying contracts, but sometimes, parents need other options. Bird’s daughter’s public school was not at fault for her death, but there should be a safety net for parents who have sought help and were told to look elsewhere.

School choice is that safety net. Though, New City School prides itself in attaining socioeconomic diversity by offering financial aid, choice is still limited for many children.

That all children should have the opportunity to enjoy learning without the fear of bullying is just another reason why Missouri should expand school choice.

Closing Loopholes in the Sunshine Law

Posted on March 19, 2015May 5, 2026 by John Wright

Sometimes we like loopholes. Maybe you’ve used one to get out of a traffic ticket or to pay a little less tax. I remember hearing about a poorly thought out tax credit for electric vehicles that folks were using to pay for golf carts. Cute. A little scummy, but cute. But when the government uses a loophole to set policy behind closed doors, it’s not so cute.

There is a loophole in Missouri’s open records and meetings law that allows government entities, such as cities, fire districts, and school boards, to negotiate with unions and set public policy in meetings that are closed to the public. State law should open the collective bargaining process because the public pays for, and depends on, the policies set in these meetings.

Some government agencies have already opened collective bargaining meetings. In 2014, the Columbia Public Schools opened its collective bargaining meetings. It has held open meetings ever since. According to Christine King, president of the Columbia Public Schools Board of Education, the board opened the process because they felt open meetings advanced the public’s interest in full transparency and openness. Such openness in public affairs empowers citizens to hold their representatives in government accountable.

Since the Columbia Public Schools began holding its collective bargaining meetings in open sessions, the local paper, the Columbia Daily Tribune, has covered these meetings, parents, teachers, and anyone else is welcome to attend, and members of the public can view meeting minutes online and see that the parties negotiate in good faith with one another.

Open collective bargaining, as practiced by forward thinking local government entities like Columbia Public Schools and Monarch Fire Protection District, should be standard practice for Missouri state and local governments. One bill, SB 549, promises to do just that by closing the loophole in Missouri’s sunshine law that some public entities use to justify closing collective bargaining sessions. Reform that requires these meetings be held in the open would be a win for anyone who wants transparent, accountable government.

All Right Class, It’s Time For Your Pension Lesson

Posted on March 18, 2015May 5, 2026 by James V. Shuls

At the Show-Me Institute we have written a number of times about Khan Academy, the online resource that seeks to provide a “free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere.” We have discussed how teachers are using Khan Academy to “flip the classroom.” Instead of having students do homework at home and lecturing at school, they have students watch Khan Academy videos at home and use class time to practice the skills they are learning.

So, I’m going to take a page from the ‘ol flipped-classroom routine and assign you a homework assignment – pensions. Sal Khan has created two videos that offer a great explanation of how defined-benefit pension plans work. In this first video, he shows how these plans can become dramatically underfunded.

In the second video, he uses the Illinois boondoggle of a pension system to provide a real world example. One of the amazing things he shows is that pension payments will soon surpass K-12 education funding.

Watch these videos to learn more about the pitfalls of defined-benefit pension systems. Then, connect with us in the comments section, on Twitter, or on Facebook to discuss more.

A Public School and a Private School Experience

Posted on March 18, 2015May 5, 2026 by Brittany Wagner

Two hours—that was the amount of time it took me to get dressed, do my hair, get dressed again, decide which shoulder my backpack looked cooler on, and make it to first period on time. Concern about physical appearance is a shared concern for many high school students, but that’s not often the case for students who attend an all-girls or all-boys high school.

Across Missouri, there are about twenty private schools offering single-sex education. On average, these schools cost $12,320 per year. Aside from alleviating opposite gender social pressures, single sex education can offer many benefits for students in need of an alternative environment. Unfortunately, students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds do not often have access.

Because of school choice, adolescent girls from low-income backgrounds in Saint Louis now have access to the option for the first time. This fall, the state’s first all-girls public charter school – the Hawthorn Leadership School for Girls – will open its doors. An affiliate of the Young Women’s Leadership Network, which boasts 100 percent college acceptance rates, Hawthorne will focus on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).

Founder Mary Stillman fondly remembers her experience at Holten-Arms, an all-girls college prep school in Bethesda, Maryland. Stillman founded Hawthorn to provide low-income, urban students with the joy and rigorous academic focus associated with private same-sex education. According to the charter’s brochure, young girls should expect a sisterhood with traditions, celebrations, and strong relationships, as well as 1 to 2 hours of homework per night.

Though Hawthorn will be the first public school option of its kind, it won’t be the first public school to use a gender-specific educational approach. Woerner, an elementary school in St. Louis Public Schools, adopted a gender-sensitive model four years ago. According to a recent article in St. Louis Magazine, the school divided students by sex, giving boys more hands-on learning, while instilling more confidence in girls in math and science. The school has moved from provisional to full accreditation.

This isn’t to say that single-sex education is the right choice for every student, but the option, if it’s a better fit, should be available to every student. In the absence of a private school choice program, charter schools are one way to expand the option which previously was experienced only by students whose parents had the financial means to afford private school tuition.

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