Talkin’ ‘Bout St. Louis City and County at the Arch City Chronicle

Posted on by David Stokes

Dave Drebes has a smart piece up over at the ACC about the discussion over the city of Saint Louis re-joining the county, which Mayor Francis Slay has already touched on several times. I was quoted in the article, so I’d like to take this opportunity to expand on a few things regarding this very intriguing discussion.

I remember there was an effort around 2005 to open a public pool in the Affton area. I sat in on a few related meetings for my boss, Councilman Kurt Odenwald. Whenever the issue of the price for pool usage came up, there were always some who wanted a lower rate for Affton residents (aka, unincorporated area residents) and a higher charge for residents of nearby municipalities. Their reasoning was that if Shrewsbury was going to charge more to non-Shrewsbury people to use their pool, then Affton should do the same. We always had to explain to people that the county could not do that, because that person who lived in Shrewsbury was paying just as high of a county tax rate (which would have funded the pool) as the residents of the unincorporated areas were paying. They just happened to also be paying municipal property taxes, which residents of the unincorporated areas didn’t pay. A few people had trouble wrapping their heads around that.

Which gets us to the issue of unincorporated/incorporated county spending breakdowns:

Stokes points out that the County expends much more per capita on unincorporated areas of the County than it does on denser municipalities.

Now, the county does not break down its spending in that manner, so I can’t point you to a line item in the budget to prove it. But it is obvious to anyone who works for the county, and it is the same in every other county in the state. There is nothing wrong with this — if someone chooses to live in a municipality (I live in U. City), they are going to pay for the services that city provides. You can’t charge a different county tax to people based on whether or not they live in a municipality. It has to be flat across the board. But the county does have more responsibility for the people who don’t live in a city, so they are going to spend a higher percentage of the budget on those areas. That’s just the way it is. So, if the city rejoined the county, you’d get an enormous increase in assessed valuation without adding significantly to county expenditures. Result: a lower county tax rate for all, although it would not feel like a tax cut for city residents who weren’t paying to the county beforehand. It would be a very real tax cut to current county residents, however.

The other thing I want to add is that while I stand by my belief that, in immediate terms, the real beneficiaries would be county residents, I think the city reentering the county would greatly benefit city residents, too. It just might take a few years for those benefits to become apparent. Right away, as the county took over some of the city’s “county” offices, the city could cut its own tax rate to partly offset the new county taxes. Over time, as the county and city each decided which services to manage, the city’s tax rate could  be cut even further. There would not be any wholesale takeover of city services, though. For a few things, like major arterial roads under local control (think Forest Park Parkway), it would benefit the entire area if the county highway department had responsibility for the road for its entire length. The change would also bring many other benefits to city residents, but I will discuss those in the future.

Lastly, I have to run the numbers on the sales tax question. Yes, the city would be giving up some of its sales tax revenues, but its population might be large enough to get almost all of that money back from the pool distribution. You can’t really know the answer until it happens, because any particular decision could affect marginal behavior — i.e., a county resident might spend more in the city if it was in the sales-tax pool, and a city resident might keep more of their money within the city if it was a “point-of-sale” city.

Education and Guns

Posted on by Sarah Brodsky

The Two Million Minutes Blog does a great job of pointing out the importance of science and math education. One of the first things you learn in any good statistics or applied science course is that correlation doesn’t imply causation. This recent Two Million Minutes post about education and gun laws seems to ignore that lesson.

The post starts out by criticizing Tennessee’s education policy and its reluctance to permit charter schools. It then states:

Today’s Tennessee children will be tomorrow’s Tennessee adults and, unable to find meaningful work for financial self-sufficiency, they will have to turn increasingly to crime to support themselves and their families.

I think that’s a bit of a stretch. Although a lagging education system can put some meaningful jobs out of reach, work doesn’t have to be meaningful to present an alternative to crime. Most people probably consider unmeaningful work that pays the bills to be preferable to a life of crime. And isn’t that one reason we have various welfare programs — so people don’t have to turn to crime if they can’t find work?

The post next mentions a bill that recently passed the Tennessee legislature, which would allow concealed carry of handguns in restaurants. It implies that this is a reaction to the imminent increase in crime. I fail to see a connection between this bill and declining productivity in schools. If today’s children will grow up to be criminals, the state of Tennessee still has several years left to deal with the problem. State governments are not known for anticipating obstacles years in advance and acting with plenty of time to spare. Usually, legislation makes little headway unless there is already a consensus outside of government.

Besides, many states have passed concealed carry measures during the past few years, including several with education systems that are more welcoming to charter schools and other innovations.

Poor education can have effects throughout society, but not every legislative action is a direct response.

Public Schools Can’t Be All Things to Everyone

Posted on by Sarah Brodsky

Combest links to this letter about physical education in schools. This sentence sums it up:

We must give Missouri youth the opportunity to live healthy lives by providing them with more education on the importance of nutrition and the opportunity to be active in a quality PE program.

This is asking too much of public schools. They can’t be expected to instill all healthy habits in children; some of that must be the parents’ responsibility.

Schools should be free to schedule physical education as they choose. For schools with block scheduling that hold 90-minute class periods, complying with a half-hour mandate could wreck the entire schedule.

If parents are not happy with the amount of physical education provided in school, they can make up for it after school. It’s one subject that parents can easily supplement on their own. Unlike chemistry, for which you might need a lab, special equipment, textbooks, etc., physical education can take place with basic supplies like a jump rope from a dollar store.

A Good Reason to Grow Plants in School

Posted on by Sarah Brodsky

Some schools grow food as part of a larger political ideology — an opposition to trade or agricultural business, or a belief that all food consumed should come from nearby. Others cultivate plants because it’s a great way to study biotechnology. That’s the case at the Clyde C. Miller Career Academy, a charter school in St. Louis:

Unveiled last week, the greenhouse adds to the school’s already impressive list of features — among them, a $1 million kitchen and a science lab where students can clone plants. These facilities are designed to give students hands-on experience in preparation for specific careers.

As is often the case, it’s a charter rather than a traditional public school that’s providing students with cutting-edge career training. Charter schools have an advantage in this regard. I don’t mean this in the sense charter school critics do — that charters take the best students, or whatever. No, the charter advantage is that students choose to enroll or to leave, so charters are free to specialize. A traditional public school couldn’t afford to invest in a new greenhouse, an accompanying lab, and teachers with agricultural experience if only a few students in the school took career-focused courses.

I, Sustainability

Posted on by Sarah Brodsky

This video is the polar opposite of “I, Pencil” — Leonard Read’s essay about the market economy told from the point of view of a pencil. Whereas “I, Pencil” celebrates the achievements that capitalism makes possible, the documentary, called “The Story of Stuff,” deplores what it sees as widespread waste and decadence.

The anti-consumer opinions expressed in “The Story of Stuff” are inconsistent with the goal of empowering people and protecting the planet. For instance, it criticizes people who buy new models of computer monitors. But the sleeker designs are not only more fashionable, they’re also better for the environment because they use energy more efficiently, and use less plastic and other resources. Imagine if no new computer models came out, and everyone had to work on the room-sized machines of several decades ago. That really would be disastrous for the planet.

Another point that doesn’t stand up to inspection is the claim that gadgets are cheap — the example given is a $5 radio — because the full cost is being foisted on someone else. It’s implied that $5 is an arbitrarily low price that the manufacturer stuck on the item to get it to sell. But, if that’s the case, why don’t manufacturers charge $5 for a television or a microwave? And why do we see comparable prices for similar items across different models and retail outlets? It’s also not clear who paid for the difference if the price is arbitrarily low. The narrator claims that employees paid it by covering the cost of their own health insurance — although health insurance isn’t one of the inputs that goes into making a radio.

The narrator can’t believe that $5 is the actual cost of a radio because she doesn’t understand economies of scale. To make just one radio for her and ship it by itself in one of those ocean liners would of course cost much more than $5. If she got her way and all goods had to be produced in small amounts locally, a radio would be much more expensive. Mass production and trade (not exploitation!) brings the cost down.

She would also do well to ponder the lesson of “I, Pencil.” Markets have brought together widely spread-apart resources to serve human needs. Without markets, we wouldn’t have pencils, let alone video cameras to record documentaries. It’s easy to say you don’t want markets to get you more stuff, once you already enjoy all the technology you use to spread your message. It’s great if you already have what you need, but markets should be allowed to continue to bring other people the things that they need and don’t have yet.

If the Free Market Is Not Right, Dave Sinclair Will Make It Right!

Posted on by David Stokes

St. Louis car dealing icon Dave Sinclair is a terrific businessman, but his economics leave a lot to be desired. He appeared on the McGraw Show this morning — to which I, of course, was listening — to talk about the auto industry. His economics are pure protectionism, plain and simple. He has a lot of good insight into a business that he obviously knows very well, but then he goes and says things like, “Americans do not have a right to always get the cheapest item available.” (That quote is paraphrased from memory, but the exact quote was very close to that.) He went on to say that he does not buy Nike shoes made by workers in poor countries earning very low wages.

Sinclair has every right to do whatever he wants with his money, but it it absurd for him to declare that “Americans” don’t have the “right” to cheap goods. Americans have the “right” to buy whatever legal products a firm can import into this country, and in order to find customers, firms will attempt to bring those products in as inexpensively as possible. That is called freedom. This ability to have numerous options of varying prices available to everyone is one of the reasons for our high standard of living. Sinclair might say that the general U.S. standard of living should be compromised for everybody in order to benefit some — in this case, union auto workers and American car dealers like himself (although I honestly believe he is not saying this for selfish reasons [not that there is anything wrong with being “selfish” in economic terms]). Imposing punitive taxes on imports of any kind limits the options available to American citizens, diminishes our freedoms, and hurts the economy by subsidizing inefficiencies. (The word “inefficiencies” here is meant in general; it’s not aimed at American cars.)

I just bought an American car four months ago, so even if you disagree with me you can hardly get mad at me. We bought our Durango because it was exactly what we were looking for, not because it was an American car, and my wife and I love it. We also own foreign cars. Our freedoms and our economy gain when citizens are allowed to make whatever choices they want with their money. Protectionism helped put the “Great” in the Great Depression, and if we go in that direction again it will only deepen the great recession we are in now.

Summer Camps Cut From Budget

Posted on by Sarah Brodsky

One tiny step back for state spending, one leap forward for common sense in Missouri’s budget. The Missouri Scholars Academy will have to find private sponsors or charge tuition starting next year.

Supporters of the Academy are quick to point out benefits that are supposed to accrue to the state at some point in the future, such as: Smart students enjoy the Academy. Then they have a warm, fuzzy feeling about Missouri. Then they’re more likely to go to college in Missouri. Then they’re more likely to stay here and work and pay taxes. …

The fact of the matter is, only a few hundred students attend the Academy each year. Assuming that each one of them will stay in Missouri because of the Academy, it still isn’t worth taxing other Missourians for their summer camp.

The City Mouse and the Country Mouse

Posted on by Sarah Brodsky

Once upon a time, a city mouse went to visit his cousin who lived in northwest Missouri. He saw that the high-speed Internet access available to his cousin was of poor quality compared to high-speed access in the city. So he brought his cousin the country mouse back to the city with him, where they were able to go online in the blink of an eye. “Yes,” said the country mouse. “Internet access is faster here in the city. But I can get the state to pay for high-speed access out in the country.”

Moral of the story: To each his own entitlement.

Common Sense Flourishes in the Missouri Senate

Posted on by Sarah Brodsky

Whatever the benefits of physical exercise, the state doesn’t need to mandate 30 minutes of it per day for public elementary schools, as the Senate sensibly decided today. If that policy would actually have improved student achievement — as the bill’s sponsor suggested — districts will figure it out on their own.

To see how bad the nanny state can get, read the full text of the bill. It goes into the nitty-gritty details of how high a student’s heart rate has to go during exercise, and which specific vitamins have to be in school lunches.

Support Us

The work of the Show-Me Institute would not be possible without the generous support of people who are inspired by the vision of liberty and free enterprise. We hope you will join our efforts and become a Show-Me Institute sponsor.

Donate
Man on Horse Charging