• Publications
    • Essay
    • Case Study
    • Policy Study
    • Report
    • Testimony
    • Other
    • Newsletter
  • Blog
    • Daily Blog
    • Podcasts and Radio
    • Video
    • Infographics
    • Commentary / Op-Eds
    • Events
  • Events
  • Donate
  • About
    • Our Team
    • Show-Me Institute Board of Directors
    • Fellows and Scholars
    • Our Authors
    • Jobs
  • Contact
  • Explore Topics
    • Education
      • Accountability
      • Education Finance
      • Performance
      • School Choice
    • Health Care
      • Free-Market Reform
      • Medicaid
    • Corporate Welfare
      • Special Taxing Districts
      • Subsidies
      • Tax Credits
    • Labor
      • Government Unions
      • Public Pensions
    • State and Local Government
      • Budget and Spending
      • Courts
      • Criminal Justice
      • Municipal Policy
      • Property Rights
      • Transparency
      • Transportation
    • Economy
      • Business Climate
      • Energy
      • Minimum Wage
      • Privatization
      • Regulation
      • Taxes
      • Welfare
      • Workforce
Show Me InstituteShow Me Institute
Show Me InstituteShow Me Institute
Support the Show-Me Institute
  • Publications
    • Essay
    • Case Study
    • Policy Study
    • Report
    • Testimony
    • Other
    • Newsletter
  • Blog
    • Daily Blog
    • Podcasts and Radio
    • Video
    • Infographics
    • Commentary / Op-Eds
    • Events
  • Events
  • Donate
  • About
    • Our Team
    • Show-Me Institute Board of Directors
    • Fellows and Scholars
    • Our Authors
    • Jobs
  • Contact
  • Explore Topics
    • Education
      • Accountability
      • Education Finance
      • Performance
      • School Choice
    • Health Care
      • Free-Market Reform
      • Medicaid
    • Corporate Welfare
      • Special Taxing Districts
      • Subsidies
      • Tax Credits
    • Labor
      • Government Unions
      • Public Pensions
    • State and Local Government
      • Budget and Spending
      • Courts
      • Criminal Justice
      • Municipal Policy
      • Property Rights
      • Transparency
      • Transportation
    • Economy
      • Business Climate
      • Energy
      • Minimum Wage
      • Privatization
      • Regulation
      • Taxes
      • Welfare
      • Workforce
State and Local Government / Budget and Spending

Breaking Down Expenses and Revenues: Kansas City and St. Louis

By Elias Tsapelas on May 20, 2019
STL / KC

Are Missouri’s two largest cities collecting more taxpayer dollars than necessary? To get an idea of whether St. Louis and Kansas City should be considered high-revenue or high-cost cities, it is helpful to compare them to similar cities across the country.

The level of services provided and the types of taxes or fees collected to fund those services differ from city to city. My newest paper, “Breaking Down Expenses and Revenues: Kansas City and St. Louis Compared to Six Other Cities,” updates two previous Show-Me Institute case studies to shed light on the revenue collection and spending habits of St. Louis and Kansas City.

The six comparison cities are Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Denver, Louisville, and Indianapolis. Compared to those cities, St. Louis and Kansas City are, respectively, the second and third highest spending cities overall, and the two highest spenders on debt service.

In terms of revenue collection, Kansas City ranks first among the comparison cities in fees per resident; in fact, it collects almost as much in fees per resident as all of the other cities combined. Indianapolis is the only other city with an earnings tax, yet both St. Louis and Kansas City nearly double Indianapolis in earnings tax collected per city resident.

For further discussion of the revenue and expenditure trends of these cities, click the link below to read the entire essay.

 

20190311 - Breaking Down Expenses KC and STL - Tsapelas.pdf
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Email
  • Print
About the author

Elias Tsapelas

Director of State Budget and Fiscal Policy

More about this author >
    Footer Logo
    Support the Show-Me-Institute
    Showmeinstitute.org is brought to you by Show-Me Institute and Show-Me Opportunity.
    • Publications
    • Blog
    • Events
    • Donate
    • About
    • Contact

    Reprint permission for Show-Me Institute publications and commentaries is hereby granted, provided that proper credit is given to the author. We request, but do not require, that those who reprint our material notify us of publication for our records: [email protected]

    Mission Statement
    Advancing liberty with responsibility by promoting market solutions for Missouri public policy.

    © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved