Lee’s Summit Debates Selling Advertisements On School Buses

Posted on by Patrick Ishmael

File this under “Creative Revenue Streams”:  Missouri lawmakers are considering legislation that would allow school districts to sell ad space on their buses as a way of raising revenue, and at least one school district is already taking the idea very seriously (emphasis mine).

The people who have researched the idea said it wouldn’t bring in a ton of money, but many districts are in a position where every little bit helps.

Parents and school officials in the Lee’s Summit School District met and discussed the idea Thursday evening.

Parent Keith Asel said it could make about $500,000 for Lee’s Summit schools.

“With all the budget cuts we’ve had, if we can just incrementally move the needle through things like school bus advertising, we can get to a number that really makes a difference,” he said. “We’ve got to think outside the box. The traditional means, I mean, we’ve already put such a burden on taxpayers.”

As it turns out, 17 states already allow districts to implement such an advertising program. Parents at the meeting reportedly did not have a problem with the idea, either, so long as the advertisements are age-appropriate. Supporters said ads for “alcohol, tobacco and even sugary foods” would be “restricted,” which I assume means effectively or explicitly “banned.”

My take? It is a great idea. Until I saw this story I had not realized that such a bill was floating around the Capitol, but apparently the bill has support from both sides of the aisle. Like the parent in the report says, we have to “think outside the box” if we want to improve education and reduce tax burdens. This, to me, is a great proposal that seems like it would promote both objectives.

Red Light Cameras Fail To Improve Safety In Kansas City

Posted on by Ben Barnes

The Kansas City Police Department recently completed a study of the city’s red light camera program, detailed in the Kansas City Star. The study’s focus? Whether red light cameras have improved safety on Kansas City streets since they were installed in January 2009. The conclusion? No.

Since January 2009, accidents increased at 11 of 17 monitored intersections, and fatal crashes increased at 13 of those locations. Kansas City is not the first to see this happen with its red light camera program. The Star interviewed University of Illinois at Chicago Assistant Professor Rajiv Shah, who studied a red light camera program in Chicago:

“I’d say [Kansas City’s results are] very consistent with what cities across America have found . . . There’s really not a hard connection between reducing accidents and red-light cameras.”

The results of this study should have red light camera proponents reevaluating their positions. As we have pointed out before, red light cameras have many problems: they invade privacy and create a constitutionally suspect presumption of guilt. They are also prone to mistake. Brenda Talent, executive director of the Show-Me Institute, was fined for a violation she did not commit in Kansas City last year, and 1,000 lucky drivers were falsely accused of running red lights in Arnold, Mo., just two weeks ago.

Not surprisingly, American Traffic Solutions, the company that runs the program, publicly criticized the police department’s findings. ATS identified weather patterns, impaired drivers, and cell phone usage as the cause for increased wrecks. In other words, ATS identified anything but the red light cameras, which the company receives $1.6 million a year to operate, as the culprit for the increased crashes.

Despite the police study, it is likely that camera proponents will not rest. The Star editorial focused on a study by city engineers that found a decrease in total violations at monitored intersections. The Star praised the decrease in violations and declared that “red light cameras are working in Kansas City.” Fewer people running red lights, maybe; but if more accidents are occurring at monitored intersections, it is a stretch to conclude that red light cameras improve safety just because total violations have dropped.

Much to the dismay of proponents like the Star, the police study just confirmed what we already knew. Red light cameras are not about public safety, they are about generating revenue through traffic enforcement. The program has been very lucrative in Kansas City. The police study reports that officers have written nearly 200,000 tickets at $100 per ticket — adding $20 million to the city coffers.

Will The Missouri House Ever Learn On Tax Credits?

Posted on by Patrick Ishmael

Legislators can rename their new tax credit programs if they want, but it is utterly absurd to suggest that a “tax rebate” for data centers — as it has been portrayed and presented in the Missouri House of Representatives — or a tax credit for sports events is anything other than business as usual in the Capitol. State officials are picking yet another set of presumably hot new industries on which to bet their development roulette chips. Giving special tax breaks to special interests is the history of Missouri development policy over the last few decades. Every year or two, a new flight of special big ideas is enshrined in the law, with a new round of fresh special interests ensconced in the state’s pantheon of practically untouchable tax credits. The Missouri Department of Economic Development’s own tax credit documents outline the timeline of Missouri’s nearly imperishable tax credit growth with exquisite clarity. (Click the image to enlarge.)

timeline

Lobbyist detente on tax credits is not a sustainable status quo, and continuing to carry old tax credits forward while instituting new ones is a failure of leadership. That state officials would try to re-brand a failed system and grow the development tax credit leviathan beyond its current confines is hugely disappointing. It is just more of the same, and Missourians deserve better than that.

School Reform: Have We Reached The Boiling Point?

Posted on by Greg Aubuchon

Parents continue to demand solutions to failing schools in Missouri. As an example, five Saint Louis firefighters recently sued three suburban school districts for failure to enroll their children under the Missouri Supreme Court’s Turner decision. One of the firefighters is spending $20,000 per year in Catholic school tuition just to avoid sending his children to Saint Louis public schools. This is in addition to taxes he has paid to fund the very school district that has failed him and his family. Like many families in similar situations, this family pays twice for securing the benefits of the “free public schools” that are guaranteed in our state constitution.

My post last week discussed a lawsuit between the Kansas City Public Schools and five suburban school districts regarding the implementation of the Turner decision. In a nutshell, Turner requires surrounding districts to enroll students who live in unaccredited (failing) school districts (i.e., the Saint Louis and Kansas City public schools and the Riverview Gardens School District). In effect, this is a limited school choice option under Missouri law.

Practically speaking, one issue is, how can the suburban districts in Kansas City and Saint Louis handle the potential influx of urban students? A recent survey estimates that approximately 13,500 students may flee Saint Louis schools for Saint Louis County under the Turner law. That is close to one quarter of school-age children in Saint Louis city. Pressure to abandon the Saint Louis public schools is apparently growing.

While it is easy to get caught up in the apparent chaos, why don’t we disengage for a second and reflect on the deeper issues; specifically, the failure of urban education in the Saint Louis and Kansas City public schools. Perhaps the Turner decision is a blessing of sorts, compelling both the legislature and the courts to address head-on comprehensive school reform, not only for our urban districts, but for all districts in Missouri.

Teacher tenure reform, collective bargaining, charter school expansion, school closure, and expanded school choice are on the table. The legislative session is just beginning to heat up. Perhaps Turner was merely the first act in an unfolding multi-act drama. If so, the script should promote an increase in accountability for teachers and school districts, and an expansion of school choice, including choice of private and parochial schools for students in failing public schools.

Do Aldermen Still Have Outsize Power Over Whether LRA Sells Property?

Posted on by Audrey Spalding

The St. Louis Land Reutilization Authority (LRA) met today to consider offers to purchase vacant property. The LRA, part of Saint Louis City government, is the largest owner of vacant property in the city.

Our research showed in 2011 that the LRA had a track record of frequently rejecting offers to buy city property, often for no discernible reason. The agency would cite “lack of aldermanic input” when rejecting offers, or plans for “future development” that would fail to materialize.

I have written here about improvements to the LRA’s practices that were made in the wake of the publication of our research and the resulting media attention.

This month’s meeting went pretty well — most offers to purchase property were accepted or countered (meaning the LRA asked for a higher purchase price or change in contingencies). However, I still cannot help but think that Saint Louis City aldermen still have outsize influence over whether the agency accepts or rejects offers to purchase property.

An offer from Transformation Christian Church and World Outreach Center to purchase four properties illustrates this well.  LRA staff members recommended that the church’s offer be rejected. However, former Alderwoman Irene Smith (ward 1) spoke on behalf of the church during the meeting and managed to sway the commission. It seemed that the decision of whether to sell the property hinged on whether the area alderman was supportive of the sale.

Smith, speaking to the commission, noted that the church had spoken with Alderman Sam Moore, saying that after “swapping” some property with him, he had agreed to provide a letter supporting the sale of LRA property to the church.

But LRA Chairman Mark Wells initially would not recommend moving to sell the property, saying that “Based on the information we got from Alderman Moore, I think more discussion is needed.”

Smith responded: “We’re taken aback by that. We sat down with Alderman Moore.”

Ultimately, the commission moved to counter the church’s offer instead of rejecting it. And I am glad — the church has a history of purchasing, maintaining, and rebuilding LRA property.

But, I wonder: If the church has a track record of being a strong community resource and has the funds to buy the vacant city property, why does it matter what the alderman thinks? The LRA does not have to consider the input of an area alderman. The agency’s authority was established under state law, and the LRA law does not suggest that the agency consider the input of any political officials. Saint Louis government has implemented this practice by choice.

You can download the LRA’s meeting agenda (with a few of my notes) here.

Can The Market Provide Cheaper Short-Term Loans?

Posted on by Bruce Stahl

This article in the Kansas City Star is a must-read for anyone interested in payday lending. Here are some of the details (emphasis mine):

Central Bank has agreed to make old-fashioned signature loans (that means no collateral from the borrower) of $300 to $2,500. That’s also what payday and installment lenders do. Except Fair Community Credit will lend money for slightly longer durations and at a double-digit interest rate, not a triple-digit one. That way borrowers will have a better shot at paying off their loans, rather than defaulting.

What makes that possible is Fair Community Credit’s promise to cover any loan losses from a $200,000-plus loan guarantee pool donated by foundations and individual donors.

The market is creating relatively cheap short-term credit alternatives to payday loan shops. It is incredible to watch society tackle perceived problems through voluntary interaction without the forceful hand of the state. It will be intriguing to see the results of this venture.

A hat tip to John Combest for the link.

Closing Bad Schools Is Exactly What Is Supposed To Happen

Posted on by Audrey Spalding

Two failing charter schools in Saint Louis City will be closed at the end of this school year. You may remember the St. Louis Post-Dispatch‘s somewhat sordid saga of Imagine Schools that was recently published.

It might sound harsh, but this is exactly what is supposed to happen with charter schools: We should let the good ones flourish and try to replicate their success, and close schools that are not meeting students’ needs.

Just because a school is a charter school does not guarantee student academic success. It is important to close failing schools, whether they are traditional public schools or charter schools. Nobody benefits from keeping open a school that is failing its students.

For more on the Imagine closings, check out our latest Show-Me video below.

Hazelwood Responsive Documents: Emerald Automotive

Posted on by Patrick Ishmael
 

The Next Half Measure

Posted on by Michael Rathbone

Now that Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has delivered his State of the State address, legislators in Jefferson City are prepared to tackle spending in their own way. The Missouri Legislature is considering a constitutional amendment that would cap state spending increases to the annual rise in the Consumer Price Index plus population growth. Any excess money would first go to paying down public debt, then a special reserve fund (not a bad idea considering some of the potential natural disasters this state faces), and then any remaining money would go towards temporarily reducing income taxes.

Along with the Hancock Amendment, this amendment would restrict the power of the legislature. Therefore, the legislature should be commended for proposing this amendment. Constitutional amendments like this, along with a balanced budget requirement (which Missouri has), give legislators an easy way to say “no” to special interests.

Now, this is not a full-throated endorsement of the proposed amendment. There are a couple of things that bother me. First, there was an amendment that passed setting the cap at fiscal year 2008, the so-called “high water mark” of state revenues. Considering that the general revenue is expected to increase 3.9 percent  from $7.3 billion this year and that net general revenue for fiscal year 2008 was slightly more than $8 billion ($8,004,309, to be exact), the cap probably will not matter for . . . a while. Second, the spending limits will expire in five years unless lawmakers extend the time limit. So even if the voters approve the amendment, there is a distinct possibility that the cap can expire before it ever has the chance to restrict spending. Finally, the cap only applies to general revenue, which is where lawmakers have the most leeway in regards to spending, but it is not hard to imagine lawmakers putting down in statute specific spending items they want preserved and directing specific monies to funding them.

Despite my issues with the proposed amendment, the legislature should be commended for trying to push spending restrictions. However, it is unfortunate that such restrictions would have to be so watered down before it can pass.

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