Data Centers, Subsidies, and Electricity in Platte County and across Missouri
Artificial intelligence and data centers have been the subject of extensive discussion in recent months. Do we need a massive...
MetroLink Line Canceled, SNAP Reform, and Missouri’s Reading Crisis | Roundtable
David Stokes, Elias Tsapelas, and Avery Frank join Zach Lawhorn to discuss: the cancellation of the St. Louis MetroLink Green...
Platte County Agreement Could Be a Model for Missouri
Platte County has had a difficult 2025 reassessment cycle. Most stories I have read and heard put the blame on...
Platte County Commission Decision Not to Levy Taxes Upheld in Court
My colleague David Stokes has written a good deal about an effort in Platte County to institute a sales tax...
Platte County Children’s Services Fund Tax
A version of the following letter was published in the Kansas City Star. On November 5, voters in Platte County will...
Politicizing Charity Is Dangerous
This November, Platte County voters will decide on whether to implement a quarter-cent sales tax in the county to support...
Think Twice before Supporting a New Tax
A version of the following commentary appeared in the Platte County Landmark. Everyone wants to help kids thrive, right? Who...
Clay County Should Reduce Its Commercial Property Tax Surcharge
A version of this commentary appeared in the Clay County Courier-Tribune. This November, Clay County residents will vote on...
A Peculiar Solution for Ever-Increasing Water Rates
On June 2, residents of Peculiar, Missouri will vote on the sale of the City of Peculiar utility system to...
A Moonshot of Mistakes: Missouri’s Missing Million
When the United States put a man on the moon in 1969, the state of Missouri was the 13th largest...
Will There Be a Cease-fire in Kansas City’s Economic “Border War”?
That’s the billion-dollar question that legislators on both sides of State Line Road are asking themselves. Show-Me Institute researchers have...
The Risk of City-issued Bonds
Kansas City leaders tell us that the bonds issued by the Kansas City Industrial Development Authority to fund the construction...
Tourism: When Kansas City Is Not Kansas City
Eyebrows were raised at the claim by Kansas City’s tourism board, VisitKC, that Kansas City has over 25 million visitors...
The TIF Tax
On the November ballot, many Clay, Jackson, and Platte County residents will be asked to increase their property tax levy...
Kansas City, Meet the 325 Plan
The decreasing amount of funding available for state highway improvements has led the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) to plan...
Who Is Alicia Stephens And Why Should Kansas City Care?
Alicia Stephens is the executive director of the Platte County Economic Development Council (EDC), described on its website as “a nonprofit organization [founded]...
‘This Is What Airports Do,’ Part 2
The chart below documents the estimated amount of tax dollars lost because of Kansas City International Airport (MCI) acting like...
Hey Platte County, Sell Your Golf Course!
According to an article in the Kansas City Star, Platte County is engaged in a difficult debate regarding budget cuts. Officials...
A Wild Idea: Kansas City Votes Nov. 8 On Proposed Zoo Tax
When I was a kid, I often visited the Kansas City Zoo with my family; after all, we were members of...
Dreadful Assessment Lawsuit in Platte County
A simply atrocious lawsuit has been filed in Platte County (which includes part of Kansas City), according to the St....
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