Thinking Ahead

Posted on by Sarah Brodsky

While my editor is busy looking for live music and ethnic food, I’m planning my retirement and long-term care. Or, at least, Gov. Blunt thinks that would be a good idea. The Columbia Daily Tribune Politics Blog reports that the state and federal government have teamed up to create “long-term planning kits” to help consumers in Missouri:

The program — dubbed ‘Own Your Future’ by the governor — is a joint project of the state of Missouri and the federal Department of Health and Human Services will be working together to increase consumer awareness about this effort to plan for long-term care.

Speaking of financial awareness and foresight, listen to this state official hem and haw about how taxpayers are paying for the program:

“We’re very involved with the development of the product,” said Doug Ommen, director of the Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions and Professional Registration. “Some of the materials that are going out are paid for by federal funds and some of it is being covered by other funding that’s available. I think with grants, but it’s coming from state production.”

My intuition is that if the state runs a huge marketing campaign to inform consumers about every product and service out there, it won’t be financially sound in the long term. But how do I tell Gov. Blunt? Should I send him a kit?

I’m Running as Fast as I Can

Posted on by Eric D. Dixon

The other day, I noticed an article from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about rankings of the world’s 30 "fast cities" by Fast Company magazine. Being a relatively recent newcomer to Missouri, I try to read as much state news as I can — but some days I’m busy enough that I don’t manage to get through much more than the tremendously useful set of links John Combest provides every day. So it was a few days after the fact that I discovered Fast Company has designated St. Louis as a "slow" city — slower, even, than Boise, Idaho.

It’s actually not much of a surprise to me that Boise was chosen for one of the 30 "fastest" cities in the world — although I grew up in Portland, Oregon, my dad was raised in Boise, and we vacationed there every summer. Not too long after my dad retired, my parents moved inland to Nampa (part of the extended Boise metro area), and I joined them for a little while — leaving my six years in Washington, D.C., behind me. I stayed busy with freelance projects and a copy editor job. Before the Show-Me Institute enticed me to Missouri, with its siren song of free-market think tankery, I had come to appreciate the Boise area’s status as one of the fastest-growing regions in the nation. There’s no question, it’s an up-and-coming burg — I mean, it would have been unthinkable only a few years ago to see Nampa sandwiched directly between Las Vegas and Los Angeles on a 2006 list of Rolling Stones tour dates.

But, hey — the very fact that I’ve moved here makes Boise a little slower, and St. Louis a little faster. My residency here has already slightly increased the local demand for tasty ethnic food, live music, and independent film. And it’s reduced Boise’s demand for those same things by a similar margin. I can argue all day that a few simple economic reforms would work wonders in revitalizing St. Louis, but nothing speaks louder than personal action. Although I can’t bring St. Louis from the bottom five into the top 30 singlehandedly, it won’t be for a lack of eating, listening, and watching on my part.

I just need to know where you’re hiding the crazy, avant-garde jazz. Does St. Louis have a budding John Zorn or Frank Zappa? A nascent Henry Threadgill or Albert Ayler? A homegrown Sonny Sharrock or Marc Ribot? If you know, don’t keep it to yourself.

Not So Fast, Berkeley …

Posted on by David Stokes

The city of Berkeley has managed to almost eliminate its budget deficit, merely by transferring money out of certain funds and into the general fund. The fact that Berkeley is using "creative accounting" might be of concern to its citizens, but a greater concern is that it appears the city may be transferring money from funds it is not allowed to use for other purposes. From the article in the Suburban Journal (emphasis added): 

The second resolution deals with the 2007 budget. The budget was amended to appropriate a transfer amounting to $975,688. Of this total, $279,292 came from the capital fund, $6,227 from the fire equipment fund, $680,169 from the parks fund, and $10,000 from the sewer lateral fund.

The last line is the key — $10,000 from the sewer lateral fund. Here is the state statute regarding sewer lateral funds. The relevant part is in the middle (emphasis again added):

3. If a majority of the voters voting thereon approve the proposal provided for in subsection 2 of this section, the governing body of the city, town, village or county may enact an ordinance for the collection and administration of such fee in order to protect the public health, welfare, peace and safety. The funds collected pursuant to such ordinance shall be deposited in a special account to be used solely for the purpose of paying for all or a portion of the costs reasonably associated with and necessary to administer and carry out the defective lateral sewer service line repairs. All interest generated on deposited funds shall be accrued to the special account established for the repair of lateral sewer service lines.

The next statute has similar language regarding collection of sewer lateral bills (emphasis thrice added):

All revenues received on such combined bill which are for the purpose of providing for, ensuring or guaranteeing the repair of lateral sewer lines, shall be separated from all other revenues so collected and credited to the appropriate fund or account of the city, town, village or county.

I would be pleased to stand corrected, but based on everything I see and know, Berkeley is violating the state statute by transferring money out of the sewer lateral fund, into the general fund.

“Hot Fuel” Legislation Is a Step in the Wrong Direction

Posted on by Maurice Harris

Sen. Claire McCaskill is proposing legislation, according to the Washington Missourian, to end the practice of selling "hot fuel" at the same per-unit volume as fuel sold when temperatures are lower. "Hot fuel" is the term used for fuel that has expanded in gasoline storage tanks during high-temperature weather, which means consumers end up buying slightly less gasoline per gallon, as measured in terms of energy output, than they would otherwise:

The Star series said at the standard 60 degrees, a 231-cubic-inch
gallon of fuel delivers a certain amount of energy. At 90 degrees,
however, the same gallon expands to more than 235 cubic inches. Because
consumers are still buying 231-cubic-inch gallons, "hot fuel" forces
them to spend more to obtain the same amount of energy.

According to the editorial, this legislation would help save Missouri motorists $15 million dollars annually, because it would require gas stations to install automatic temperature-compensating equipment in all retail gasoline
station pumps. The updated technology would adjust the price of gasoline as it
expands during warmer temperatures.

As a previous post discussed this same issue, supply and demand efficiently determines the retail price of gasoline in a competitive market — bidding down the price slightly when temperatures have temporarily expanded supplies. In general, motorists don’t think about the energy output that a
gallon of gas gives their cars, because that information isn’t relevant in deciding where to buy gas. Focusing on the price per gallon at one station in comparison to a nearby station helps fuel consumers much more than figuring out price per energy-output-unit at varying temperatures. Websites can also help consumers compare the cost of gas.

These new regulations would produce is higher fuel prices for consumers that would amount to much more than the $15 million dollars that "hot fuel" is ostensibly costing consumers in Missouri now. Rather than trying to find short-term relief through short-sighted legislation, we should encourage market-based technological solutions in our search for a way to reduce consumer energy costs.

Patience, Mayor Lowery, Patience

Posted on by Maurice Harris

Another storm hit the St. Louis area and about 60,000 houses lost electricity early Monday morning. Florissant’s mayor, Robert Lowery, thinks some of those power outages could have been avoided if power lines had been moved underground. Yet, according to the Mayor (via KMOX), Ameren is dragging its feet:

Florissant Mayor Robert Lowery is getting very impatient with Ameren. He says they promised to put a number of electrical lines underground…and he hasn’t seen any digging.

Ameren responded that Florissant is first on its list to receive underground lines, but it is still doing the design work. Now, I know Ameren has been criticized for its response to the freak storms that hit the region during the past year, but when it comes to installing power lines, there should be an understanding that it takes time, planning, and finesse — you can’t just start digging in residential neighborhoods when you have to avoid gas and water lines. Mayor Lowery is understandably frustrated that Florissant’s residents always seem to be the ones to lose their power, but patience is necessary if we want Ameren to avoid a gas or water main break.

Dillards, Crestwood, and Taxes, Oh My!

Posted on by David Stokes

As if on cue from my recent posts about St. Ann and Northwest Plaza, Dillard’s has announced it is closing its store in Crestwood Mall. From the Post-Dispatch: 

The city of Crestwood’s wallet will take a hit from Dillard’s exit. "In 2006, anchor stores at the mall generated about $486,000 in sales tax revenue from the city’s 1-cent sales tax only, so the loss of Dillard’s will definitely have a negative impact on the city’s sales tax performance in 2007 and beyond," Myers said in the statement. 

Crestwood has had a very interesting political history over the past few years, with hotly contested local elections, mayoral resignations, lawsuits with former city managers, and so on. Many of the problems come down to dealing with the issue of declining sales tax revenues from a mall that is no longer one of the premier malls in the area. If the sales tax pool were expanded, and "A" cities like Crestwood were forced both to contribute more to the pool, and receive a share back from it, too, places like Crestwood could benefit from growth in other parts of the county. Right now, most municipal officials who read this (if there are any) probably think it’s insane. I bet in 10 years it will be considered common sense.

City Students Have Potential

Posted on by Sarah Brodsky

An article in the L.A. Times explores some challenges of urban education that Saint Louisans know well. Only in Los Angeles, students are doing the education research themselves:

Hernandez and nearly two dozen other teenagers spent part of the summer studying several of the city’s most troubled high schools with the guidance of a UCLA research program. On Friday, they delivered their findings to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s education advisors at City Hall.

Much of what the students found mirrors data reported by professional researchers — namely, that half or more students at some schools drop out before graduation.

Both Saint Louis’ and Los Angeles’ experiences show that students in inner cities can be active participants in their education. In Los Angeles, some teenagers were willing to do work most education consultants would charge a lot of money for. In Saint Louis, students devoted several full days to sit in the mayor’s office and protest the district’s loss of accreditation. Unfortunately, both of these examples are cases of students being involved in district politics rather than in studying academic subjects.

The allegation that public school students don’t care is false. Many of them just don’t have an outlet for their energy. They have opportunities to protest, but few opportunities to learn. If each family made its own choices about schools, there would be less political drama about education. Instead of working on advisory reports and protests, students could focus on essays and science-fair projects.

Keeping Teachers in School

Posted on by Sarah Brodsky

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is on a roll, pointing out problems with the public schools that could be alleviated by smarter education policy. Here’s an article about teachers who decide to drop out of teaching during their first few years on the job:

Bridgeforth, 28, said he reached a low point at age 22, two or three months into the job at Parkway North High School, when he realized: "Wow, this isn’t for me. I’m not getting paid a whole lot. I’m working 60 hours a week, I have a college degree. I could probably be enjoying something else a lot more."

Bridgeforth has a lot of company. As many as half of new teachers in public schools leave before they hit the five-year mark.

I can think of a few policy changes that could help rectify this situation. First, merit pay would reward new teachers who put in the extra effort and get results. The current pay scale privileges veteran teachers, even when they’re ineffective — or, in the words of an administrator quoted in the article, "complacent and bitter."

Second, some form of school choice, be it vouchers, tuition tax credits, or another program, would spur competition for the best teachers of any age. As schools work to attract and retain students, they’ll bid the better teachers away from employers who aren’t on their toes.

Other competitive industries can lure teachers out of teaching. Schools should be allowed to compete for them too.

Transportation Development Districts Good, Could Be Better, Says Auditor

Posted on by David Stokes

Transportation Development Districts are in the Post-Dispatch again, with another, longer, report on the recent audit of TDDs, by the state. This article gives some concrete examples of the good TDDs have done for our area. For instance, Eager Road was a traffic nightmare after the explosion of shopping there in the past 10 years. The monies from the TDD have dramatically improved driving on Eager, and that money has been paid by the people who use the shopping center. Sort of a toll-like user fee, but with more collateral damage. People who shop there, but don’t get there via car, pay the costs, although people who use the roads, but don’t shop there, don’t cover any costs — so it ain’t perfect.

The lack of accountability is a serious issue. The records should be much more available to any interested party, such as Crestwood activist Catherine Barrett, who is discussed in the article. Better oversight is indeed more important, too. Every year, entities that set a property tax rate have to send that rate to the state auditor’s office for examination and approval, in order to make certain the rate is not higher than allowed by law. I see no reason districts like TDDs that set a sales tax rate should not have to do the same thing. I would like to see the Legislature address this issue with a scalpel, not a hammer. Small changes to the laws can improve the process while continuing to let TDDs bring much-needed transportation improvements to our area.

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