Taxing bodies that depend entirely on property taxes get crushed by the choices that cities make. Often, voters in those taxing bodies don’t live within the city that makes the decisions and cannot punish or reward elected officials with their votes. The most obvious example of this was in Shrewsbury, but it happens all over the place. With county TIF commissions, voters can hold elected officials responsible for the subsidy choices that they make.

Five counties currently have county TIF commissions: St. Louis, Clay, Cass, St. Charles, and Jefferson. Counties that use the county TIF commission mechanism have been more careful and judicious in the use of TIF than counties where municipalities dominate the decision-making process. This is particularly true in St. Charles and Jefferson counties, but even in St. Louis it has been better overall. St. Louis County thankfully rejected the odious Maryland Heights proposal, but it has also approved other bad subsidies (e.g., the Chesterfield TIF). Clay County and Cass County are fairly new to this list, so it remains to be seen if they will be better or not.

The exact statutory language is in RSMO: 99.820.3(1). Personally, I think that Greene, Platte, Franklin, Boone, and Camden counties should be the next five added to this list. Earlier this year in Osage Beach (Camden County), I testified at a hearing where all 6 members of the TIF Commission from the city instituted a TIF over the objections of the representatives from the county and school district. That is how TIF works, and it is terrible.

The post TIF Decisions Should Be Made at the County, Not City, Level appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

Counties are creating their own special rules for the tax freezes, and the fact is they simply have no authority to do that. They may be able to do whatever they want with the property tax revenues for the counties themselves (or the independent City of St. Louis), but these changes affect other entities such as school districts and municipalities.

Not all of the changes counties have included in their bills are necessarily bad (in that they may have made a bad idea slightly less bad) but a county can’t change the authority the state gave it to collect and distribute tax money for other taxing districts, like schools.

Jackson County passed an ordinance limiting the tax freeze to those with homes valued at less than $550,000. Camden County passed a senior tax freeze, and county officials stated that  improvements to the home that resulted in more than a 50% increase in assessment will trigger a reassessment and, presumably, a tax increase. It speaks to how poorly Senate Bill (SB) 190 (the bill in the Missouri Legislature authorizing the senior tax freeze) was drafted that it does not address what happens if senior citizens make substantial improvements to their home after they receive the tax freeze. Common sense would lead one to believe that the valuation and taxes are changed in that case, but maybe not?

The City of St. Louis has proposed a bill (but it has not passed yet) that makes significant changes to the eligibility rule, including raising the age to receive the tax freeze to 65. Those changes aren’t even bad ones (mostly), but they are not allowed by the state law. This article states that Greene County passed an ordinance limiting the tax freeze to those actually receiving social security, not just those eligible for it, but I don’t see that in the ordinance so I am not sure that is correct.

As an aside, now that St. Louis County had commendably rejected the freeze but Camden County (Lake of the Ozarks area) has passed it, I am intrigued by the question of how many St. Louis County residents with second homes at the lake will change their primary address to Camden County. (You can only get the tax freeze on your primary residence, not multiple homes.) Remember, residence is mostly a matter of intent. If you “intend” for your residence at the lake to be your primary house—and you at least do the bare minimum and register to vote there—it is just about as easy as that.

These various bills from counties are going to invite legal challenges, and I, for one, look forward to that happening.

The post The Taxman Confuseth appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

The post Property Tax in Camden County appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

I have no doubt that the sales tax is being proposed in order to make sure that tourists pay their “fair share” of the costs for greater law enforcement in the area. The Lake is one region where either a sales tax or a property tax increase is going to raise significant tax money from non-permanent residents, with either tourists paying the sales (and lodging) taxes or vacation homeowners paying the property taxes.

But back to the sales tax increase. Residents know better than anyone if increased or better law enforcement in Camden County is required. They and the tourists (like me) will pay for it. But is there money available outside of a tax increase? Here are some things to consider:

• Online sales tax collections are coming (officially) to Missouri, which will increase local tax collections starting in 2023.
• Parson just signed the gas tax increase, which (assuming it survives legal challenges) will further lead to more money for counties. (The money raised has to be used on roads, but that loosens up other tax revenues.)
• In the short term, Camden County is set to get almost $9 million from the stimulus plan. That is, shall we say, a lot of money.
• Housing values are soaring, and even with the required tax rate rollbacks, there will still likely be noticeable local property tax collection increases.

Leaving aside this increased future revenue, are there other ways to increase funding for law enforcement in Camden County without tax increases?

I would suggest two things. First of all, get control of the generous tax subsidies granted to developers in the region. That is tax money that is given away to private interests instead of going to public services. The Lake Ozark region has currently promised TIF subsidies of $395 million. $395 million! To be clear, because the TIF reports don’t give addresses, and because many Lake of the Ozarks cities are in multiple counties, I can’t determine how much of that is within Camden County itself. But undoubtedly it is a very large amount of tax subsidies over the next decade or so, very likely in the hundreds of millions. That is tax revenue that could have been used for public services, including law enforcement.

Another option is greater consolidation of 911 emergency dispatching services, like Miller County and many other Missouri communities do. Camden County law enforcement agencies appear to operate their own dispatching services, which is an area ripe for economies of scale and cost savings.

But in the end, the choice, as it should be, is up to the voters.

The post A New Sales Tax for Law Enforcement in the Lake of the Ozarks appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

When troubled or sickly aristocratic English youth needed a place to recuperate in private away from their cruel stepparents, they would go to Secret Gardens, where magic and mystery would solve all of their problems. We don’t need mysterious places to address our transportation needs in Missouri, and most of our “Secret Gardens” are actually illegal meth labs. But, amazing as it may seem, there really is a local transportation funding option that is unknown to most municipal officials in Missouri. Local gas taxes are a little-used yet very efficient method of funding important local transportation priorities for cities like Lake Ozark as it considers ways to improve Bagnell Dam Boulevard and Valley Road.

I know what you’re thinking. If there is tax that most politicians don’t know about, why would you tell them? Our gas taxes are low in Missouri, and Missouri voters clearly like them that way, as attempts to raise our second-lowest-in-the-nation rate have consistently failed at the polls.

That low tax rate has benefits and costs. If you stop at a gas station near the state border, you can’t help but notice the large percentage of license plates from border states gassing up over here in Missouri. Those drivers do much of their driving in other states but choose to give us their tax dollars for Missouri roads.

But the low gas tax has costs, too. Missouri’s roads and bridges could certainly be in better shape. A 2019 report from the Federal Highway Administration ranked our roads as 8th worst in the nation. We don’t want to commit the logical fallacy of drawing causation from correlation, but there might be a connection between those 2nd-lowest taxes and those 8th-worst roads. Even for roads in good condition, increases in population, tourism, and more can burden a system.

The fact is, we need to invest more in our road and bridge system in Missouri, and our local roads are no exception. Local roads are maintained by cities and counties, not the state, and are funded by a mixture of the state gas tax, local property taxes, and sales taxes. Unfortunately, local sales taxes are the mechanism most frequently expanded to fund local roads, and they are the worst option of the three. Funding roads by sales taxes subsidizes the act of driving by charging shoppers in a manner unconnected to driving. Walkers, bikers, or carpoolers will pay just as much as solo drivers for road improvements. People who can drive on roads without directly paying for their upkeep will drive more than they otherwise would, with the resulting extra traffic, pollution, and other road issues.

Ideally, the cost of driving should be connected as closely as possible to the act of driving. Lake Ozark city leaders are currently considering a sales tax-based transportation development district (TDD) to fund improvements to Bagnell Dam Boulevard and Valley Road, both key roads for the region. A better option for funding local roads like these would be a local gas tax. A local gas tax fixes the discrepancies that sales tax funding methods generate and, more importantly, can raise substantial money for road improvements.

Seven cities in Missouri have adopted local gas taxes. By law, the money raised from these taxes can only be spent on roads within those communities. All of the local gas taxes enacted have been very low—none higher than two cents per gallon. Even at that low level, they can raise significant money, but none of these seven cities have the combination of local population and tourism that Lake Ozark has. With those tourists, a local fuel tax of just two cents per gallon could potentially bring over one hundred thousand dollars per year on top of the existing road revenue sources. That money would fund a substantial amount of road improvements for Lake Ozark, all while properly maintaining the connection between the act and cost of driving. Or, if Camden and Miller county leaders have similar concerns, countywide gas taxes could be implemented that would raise even more money.

Lake Ozark is the heart of an area vital to our state. The residents who live there and the tourists who visit need and deserve quality roads. A local gas tax would be an efficient and beneficial way to fund road maintenance and improvement. Community leaders and residents should strongly consider passing one this year. Lake Ozark does not need a hidden code or a secret garden to deal with its transportation issues, just community support to address these key improvement needs.

The post Local Gas Taxes Are the Secret Garden of City Road Funding Options appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

Now, two years on, the land the project was supposed to be built on just got foreclosed on and sold off. Cue ironic “Field of Dreams” reference.

The property was sold last Thursday in a foreclosure sale after several months of speculation about the project.

The sale included two parcels of land totaling 293 acres on Camping Paradise Road in Macks Creek under development with original plans that developers described as the “ultimate experience” for youth baseball. Long range plans called for facilities for lacrosse, football, field hockey and soccer.

That 293-acre sale appears to capture every last inch of the Ballparks of the Ozarks development plan, which contemplated the project sitting on—you guessed it—293 acres. Maybe the developers will try to repurchase the land from the buyer. Maybe they’ll move the project. And maybe the project is simply dead. Per our friends at KRMS, 

according to Presiding Commissioner Greg Hasty, funding for the grandiose project has apparently dried up effectively killing it and taking with it an expected 100 jobs that were to be created to operate the complex.

Yet in the months leading up to the foreclosure of the property, the Ballparks of the Ozarks developers were still seeking tax money. The county had even signed off on at least some of those local incentive proposals as recently as this year. According to the Kirksville Daily Express,

A Community Improvement District had been approved for the venue in January of [2017] by the Camden County Commission. Developers announced in June they would be looking at the formation of a Transportation Development District.

It’s a multi-layered, stinky onion of tax incentive attempts. Tax credits. A CID. A TDD. And yet apparently none of it was enough to attract the private investment required to keep the project sound and solvent.

I think a baseball resort could succeed in the Ozarks, but if it was going to work, it should have always been at the risk of private investors, not taxpayers.

The post Ballparks of the Ozarks Land Foreclosed On After Two Year Odyssey appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

Lake News Online was kind enough to publish our take on the matter. You can read more here.

The post Convention Mania Spreads appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

While a detailed plan has yet to surface, it is certain that any passenger rail extension from Jefferson City to Camden County would be incredibly expensive. How expensive? The distance from Jefferson City to Camden County is more than 50 miles, and new rail construction can cost up to $25 million per mile, more if they need to acquire right-of-way or build new bridges. Even simple rehabilitation of existing track can be very expensive, as the Missouri Department of Transportation’s (MoDOT) recent $48 million expenditure to improve 10 miles of track demonstrates.

What would be the demand for this line? The Missouri River runner, which connects major Missouri population centers along the Missouri River, has had difficulty gaining passengers and runs a significant operating deficit ($8 million to $9 million per year). If a link between Saint Louis, Jefferson City, and Kansas City has insufficient demand to cover costs, what are the chances for a rail line that simply connects Jefferson City to Camden County?

To get a sense of the ridiculousness of the project, consider how one might go about using this rail line. If one were planning to go from Saint Louis to the Lake of the Ozarks via this route, there would be two options. First would be to drive to Jefferson City, get out of the car, and take the rail the last 50 miles. The second option would be to go to the St. Louis Civic Center, catch one of the two daily River Runner trains to Jefferson City, and then transfer to the rail line. With both options, given the spread out nature of the Lake of the Ozarks, it is likely that anyone taking the train would have to rent a car upon arrival. It is immediately obvious that no one would consider this a reasonable transportation solution; the only market would be rail enthusiasts.

This rail project demonstrates the folly of using a sales tax to pay for transportation in Missouri. When users of highways are the ones paying for highways, the amount available to spend on new construction and maintenance is controlled by underlying demand for those assets. When everyone pays a sales tax for anything that can be called transportation, the money gets spent on politically popular projects, regardless of feasibility or demand. So it goes that if the sales tax passes, shoppers in Saint Louis will fund an empty train to Camden County.

The post Lake Of The Ozarks To Waste Sales Tax Monies On Passenger Rail appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

David Stokes’s previous appearances with Manny Haley:

• on the recent election, the Morgan County lawsuit settlement, and the TIF commission in Sunrise Beach (11/7/2013)
• on the Morgan County lawsuit and food trucks in Camden County (10/31/2013)
• on a fire district tax increase and the film tax credit (10/24/2013)
• on the government shutdown and ethanol fuel regulations (10/17/2013)
• on parking at Shady Gators and Obamacare (10/3/2013)
• on zoning changes in Camdenton and Obamacare (9/26/2013)
• on the maintenance of private roads and taxes on golf courses (9/19/2013)
• on the Missouri General Assembly’s veto session and dock regulations (9/12/2013)
• on a utility rate increase and public vs private utilities (9/5/2013)
• on a lawsuit brought by the Morgan County Treasurer against the county for back pay (8/22/2013)
• on the results of the August fire district election in Sunrise Beach, MO, and other elections around the state (8/8/13)
• on the upcoming election in the Sunrise Beach Fire District, the defeat of a TIF proposal in Olivette, and regulating food and fashion trucks (8/1/13)
• on changes to dock inspections in the Osage Beach Fire District (7/25/13)
• on the possible opening of a horse slaughter plant in Missouri (7/11/13)
• on Gov. Jay Nixon’s vetoes of pending legislation and Missouri’s General Assembly (7/4/2013)
• on ambulance fees and service (6/20/2013)
  
• on use taxes, the recent special election in Laurie, MO, economic development, and enhanced enterprise zones (EEZs) . (6/6/2013)
• on the recently completed legislative session (5/23/2013)
• on the proposed Enhanced Enterprise Zone (EEZ) for Camden County (5/16/2013)

The post Show-Me at the Lake, Thursday Mornings on KRMS appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

But lets get down to brass tacks. From the Post-Dispatch piece, how often does this happen?

If voters approve the move, it would mark the first time a county seat has been relocated in Missouri since 1930 when construction of the Lake of the Ozarks inundated Linn Creek in Camden County. Prior to that, a county seat hasn’t moved since before the turn of the century. Hermann has been the Gasconade County seat since 1842.

Supporters say they want the move in order to save taxpayer money by moving county facilities into a recently closed school, rather than spending millions on renovating the historic courthouse. People in Hermann see a different motive:

Many opponents of the move blame Lairmore, one of three county commissioners, two of whom are from Owensville. Critics accuse him and a handful of other Owensville residents of orchestrating the move.

[…] Many blame the commissioners for allowing the building to fall into disrepair so it can be condemned.

Some speculated that the proposed move was part of a push to get Highway 50 moved closer to Owensville. Still others believe politicians and power brokers some how stand to make money.

It certainly is interesting. It would be funny to see people claim that Clayton is too far east in St. Louis County, and try to move the county seat to Town and Country. I guess Gasconade could try to imitate Jackson County and have a split county seat, with facilities in both Hermann and Owensville. But, in the end, I must conclude that this is one of the most insane proposals I have heard of recently. Hermann, Mo., is the face of the county. That courthouse along the Missouri River is the face of Hermann. The people of the entire county should pay to renovate it, and the seat should stay where it is.

The post County Seat Mania ? Live From The Gasconade Octagon appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

“I had to second the nomination,” Dave Krehbiel said, laughing. “My wife accepted the appointment of clerk.”

“He’s had way too much fun with this,” Dana Krehbiel said.

And it is going to cost other people money (emphasis added):

He may even develop it someday and is considering passing some new ordinances, like mandating utility companies bury the telephone and power lines that run across his lawn, somewhat blocking his otherwise stunning view of the lake.

Moving utility poles and wires is expensive. Other people are going to pay for that in their bills. What if you had hundreds more villages like this, some forcing buried lines and others mandating above ground lines? This is supposed to be a show of individual liberty?

The older system worked fine for people willing to pay the costs of their proposals and plans, rather than those who intend — like some wannabe developers — to move forward in developing property for homes, leaving the infrastructure costs to others:

The Christian County commission (in 2002) gave developer Clyde Lorance clearance to develop the land after he offered to pay for the water, sewer and road systems. He even built Spokane-Highlandville Fire Protection District a station, giving his village full fire service.

So that is all you had to do before the Village Law, and all you need do again now that the law has been repealed. This is not trampling on anyone’s rights. Missouri does not need more government, particularly of the Liliputian variety.

The post Is This What Supporters of the Village Law Wanted? appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

However, what if wine just seems a little too “fancy” for
your next adventure across the Lake of the Ozarks Community Bridge to a certain section of Camden County, and you don’t want to deal with the hassle of
visiting your neighborhood gas station/pharmacy/liquor store/grocery store to
pick up a few cans of Missouri’s official beverage? Can’t it just be delivered to your home?

Actually, no. Anheuser-Busch (along with every other brewery
and distillery in the state) cannot ship directly to consumers. The reason
for this happens to be the same reason that people in Kansas and Utah won’t be able to take advantage of Amazon’s most recent business venture: After
prohibition, almost all states in the union moved to what is now known as the
three-tier distribution system, composed of manufacturers, distributors, and
retailers of alcoholic beverages. This system was designed to ease the states
back into alcohol consumption, and to further regulate companies like A-B.
However, its separation has led to the notion that producers cannot sell
directly to consumers. In Kansas,
this means that wine can’t be delivered directly to your home. In Missouri (thanks to the
input of a remarkably powerful wine lobby) it can, but you still have to buy
your beer at the store, because the beer lobby is more concerned with other things. This isn’t a big deal if you want to get a Budweiser,
but if you’re in Kansas City and you want to sample the latest Schlafly Reserve, or you’re stuck in Saint Louis without a
special kind of Boulevard, you’re out of luck.

The only solution to this problem? Eliminate the three-tier
system and allow manufacturers to sell directly to customers. This will keep
prices down for consumers and allow for more freedom for direct-delivery
purchases, for both beer and for wine. I really doubt anyone at A-B would be
sad if they were able to sell direct, both because revenue would skyrocket and
because no midlevel jobs would be lost — distributors of A-B products are all
monopolistic in their sale of the company’s products as is. Meanwhile, all of Missouri’s smaller
breweries would no doubt see an increase in business as their distribution
areas grew. How can this not be a good thing?

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