Last Week For TIF Reform
In my personal opinion, the single most important thing the Missouri General Assembly needs to do this year is pass...
Land Banking is Expensive
In the final week of the legislative session, Missouri legislators may vote on the creation of a land bank in...
If You Need A Subsidy In Chesterfield, Where Don’t You Need One?
Monday night, the Chesterfield City Council gave preliminary approval to a new outlet mall development that plans to impose a...
Depressing News From Ellisville
The vote of the five members of the Ellisville City Council in favor of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) is just...
When Is a Transparency Bill Not a Transparency Bill?
When it’s used to hide unpopular legislation. On Wednesday, the Missouri House took an otherwise laudable government transparency bill and...
Big Night For Ellisville
So, what is it going to be, Ellisville? TIF or no TIF? Tonight is the scheduled final vote on the...
Status Quo 1 – Kids 0
In a sad move, a Saint Louis Circuit Court judge has ruled that Saint Louis Public Schools (SLPS) does not have...
Episode III: Revenge Of The Rams
Officials for the St. Louis Rams football team must submit their counter-proposal for upgrading the Edward Jones Dome to the...
EEZs Are An EZ Path To Corporate Welfare
In a very funny 1983 episode of “Family Ties,” the father, Steven Keaton, reads an FBI file describing his mild...
Revisionist TIF History From Columbia’s City Manager
The Columbia Missourian has published an overview of the statewide use of Tax Increment Financing (TIF), a development subsidy that...
Terrible New Valet Parking Law In Saint Louis City
I can admit there was a problem with valet parking in the city of Saint Louis. Steve Patterson has covered...
NAACP Says Litigation Likely In Fight For School Choice
When six failing schools close in an unaccredited school district, where do the students go? That is the question facing...
Why a Whopping Increase in Missouri’s Cigarette Tax Is a Bad Idea
While growing up in the small border town of Atchison, Kan., my father, uncles, and family friends made frequent trips...
Don’t Bank on It: When it Comes to Vacant Property, Learn from Saint Louis’ Failures
The idea of land banking is new in Philadelphia. It is also naive. The Philadelphia City Council’s proposed land banking...
We Need Historic Tax Cuts, Not Tax Credits
Saint Louis, the destination of more than $1 billion in state tax credits since 2000, may soon be home to...
Donnybrook: Audrey Spalding Reappears on KETC
Show-Me Institute Policy Analyst Audrey Spalding was once again a guest on Saint Louis local roundtable discussion show Donnybrook on...
Since 2005, Jackson County Land Trust Has Sold More Than 1,700 Properties
During a hearing of Senate Bill 795, a bill to create a land bank in Kansas City, the sponsor, Missouri...
Arch Sales Tax Is An Opportunity For A Regional Bad Idea
Too often, the cities and other taxing districts in the greater Saint Louis area act unilaterally in ways that hurt...
Legislators Are Ignoring 40 Years Of Failure
The Kansas City Star reports that a bill to create a land bank in Kansas City is one step closer...
Hope Yet On TIF
A developer is proposing a new project in Florissant for a Walmart that will not involve a TIF or a...
