Uplands Park Archives - Show-Me Institute

Time to Reform Fine-Reliant Cities

Mon, 20 Jul 2015 10:00:00 +0000

Policing in North Saint Louis County is under the microscope. The tumultuous events of the last year have turned everyone’s attention to how the many tiny cities of North County enforce the law, and no one likes what they see:

Petty fines landing people in jail.

Budgets propped up by speed traps.

Rigged traffic lights that deceive motorists.

It’s clear that many of these cities use law enforcement more for profit than for protection. But change may finally be coming. State law is about to make it more difficult for municipalities to use police as tax collectors. Rather than double down and fight change, cities should decide how they can reduce their burden on taxpayers. Some might help everyone by going away.

Until this year, the state government failed to enforce a law—known as the Macks Creek Law—that was supposed to limited how much a city could rely on traffic fines. Reports of cities ignoring those limits date back to the late 1990s, but nothing was done. That has changed with the passage of Senate Bill 5. That bill, now signed into law, will strengthen the provisions of Macks Creek Law by lowering the amount of general revenue that can come from traffic fines to 15 percent in Saint Louis County. As for teeth, there are regular reporting requirements, and cities that do not comply will face disincorporation votes.

These changes spell trouble for many smaller cities in Saint Louis County. Twenty-seven North County municipalities have fewer than 3,000 residents, and seven have fewer than 500. Few taxpayers and increasing levels of poverty have pushed these cities to use traffic fines and other fees to stay solvent. More than a dozen of these municipalities get more than 20 percent of their total revenue from fines and court fees.

Disincorporation is a solution to the problem. There is precedent for disincorporation in Saint Louis County, most recently with scandal-ridden Saint George. Essential services, like the police, are now provided by Saint Louis County. Last year, Uplands Park held a vote on disincorporation that almost won the required supermajority.

Another solution is for cities to reduce costs by combining services. Most cities already rely on pooled services for water, power, education, and fire protection. It would not be a stretch for more cities to combine police forces or other essential services. For example, Saint Louis County already provides police for 18 municipalities. That saves money and provides localities with better-trained officers. And unlike some municipal-specific police forces, the county police do not have the same incentive to write tickets for revenue collection purposes.

Instead of turning over policing to the county, some municipalities are integrating police forces amongst themselves, with the recent example of Vinita Park and Wellston. While this in theory saves resources, residents could be stuck with the same revenue-generating practices if cities get rid of their own ticket-oriented police forces only to contract with another city that uses the same questionable practices. For example, Breckenridge expressed interest in contracting police service from Saint Ann, which has gained a reputation for using I-70 like an ATM.

Now that Senate Bill 5 is law, many municipalities are going to have to start making hard choices about whether they can continue to provide necessary services or whether they can continue at all. Residents should consider whether their towns—like Jennings, Wellston, Black Jack, and many others—can reduce spending and combine services. It may be that the best option for residents, and the region, is simply to disincorporate.

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Saint Louis County Municipalities: Should More Consider Disincorporation?

Thu, 23 Oct 2014 19:03:49 +0000

In the months following the tragic events in Ferguson, there has been increasing scrutiny on the policing practices in small North Saint Louis County cities. The argument, best made by Radley Balko of the Washington Post, is that micro-cities in Saint Louis County are using local police to shake down poor residents in order to support otherwise unnecessary government.

While we would argue that municipality size is certainly not everything, it is undeniable that many cities in Saint Louis County rely heavily on fines and court fees. One way of curtailing this sort of abuse is the rigorous implementation (or strengthening) of the Macks Creek law, which caps the amount of income a city can receive from traffic fines to 30 percent.

Missouri is preparing to audit some North Saint Louis County municipalities (along with cities in other counties) to ensure that they are not violating this law. However, the enforcement (or reform) of the Macks Creek law is up to statewide officials and voters. What’s more, if the law is vigorously enforced tiny municipalities might be forced to turn to large property tax increases or face insolvency. But local residents do not have to wait on statewide actions or accept a parasitic government. Voters can, and in the past did, disincorporate a city.

Under Missouri law, the residents can disincorporate their municipality if they: a. Gather 50 percent of residents’ signatures calling for an election on disincorporation; and b. 60 percent vote for disincorporation. At that point, the city would receive its basic services (including police and courts) from the county, unless they decide to join with another municipality.

Cities in Saint Louis County have disincorporated before, and recently. Just a few years ago, the poster child for a dysfunctional, traffic ticket-financed municipality was actually a middle-class, 95 percent white city in South Saint Louis County named Saint George. Major police scandals resulted in the city disbanding its police force, and residents ultimately voted to disincorporate in 2011. In 2013, the tiny (pop. 447) city of Uplands Park also held a vote on disincorporation, but that bid failed to reach the 60 percent mark.

The strategy of disincorporation is not without controversy. Loss of local representation, especially in areas with high minority populations, might be more worrying to some residents than fine-seeking officers. The approach also has limitations, as a municipality that funds decent public services mostly by fining pass-through traffic may serve voters’ interests while causing wider harm to the metropolitan area.

Most municipalities in Saint Louis County, including smaller ones, do not attempt to run their governments through aggressive police citations and court fees. However, residents should know that a local government that fails to provide for the common welfare (or openly harasses the poor) can be removed. A wider knowledge, if not actual use, of that option may result in more responsible city governance in Saint Louis County.

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Show-Me with McGraw Monday Mornings 550 KTRS

Mon, 06 Jan 2014 18:00:00 +0000

In the February 24, 2014, segment with McGraw Milhaven, David Stokes talks about the tax-exempt status of hospitals.

David Stokes’s previous appearances with McGraw Milhaven:

on the recent privatization of the gift shop at the St. Louis Botanical Garden (2/17/14)
on his new case study which documents examples of privatization from across the state (2/10/14)
on new credit card parking meters in St. Louis and the ongoing legislative session in Missouri (2/3/14)
on government subsidies in St. Louis (1/27/14)
on a government subsidy that Kirkwood turned down (1/13/14)
on the horse-drawn carriage industry (1/6/14)
on the St. Louis land bank–the Land Reutilization Authority (LRA) (12/23/13)
on the Affordable Care Act (12/16/13)
on a proposal to give $150 million in corporate welfare for Boeing (12/2/13)
on a proposed South County connector a toll road (11/25/13)
on property tax exemptions for non- and for-profit nursing homes (11/18/13)
on the failed vote to unincorporate Uplands Park (11/11/13)
on the vote to unincorporate Uplands Park and a ballot measure to increase taxes in the Pattonville School District (10/21/13)
on the privatization of mail delivery (10/7/13)
on St. Ann’s permanent speed trap (9/30/13)
on the Zoo-Museum Taxing District (9/23/13)
on the proposed tax subsidy to move Laclede Gas two blocks (9/16/13)
on the defeat of a tax subsidy for Walmart in Ellisville (9/9/13)
on tax subdies (TIFs) to Bass Pro (9/3/13)
on the closing of Augusta Bottom Rd and municipal liability (8/26/13)
recounts his role in exposing the taxi-cab scam (8/19/13)
on the defeat of a tax increment financing (TIF) proposal in Crestwood (7/29/13)
on how St. Louis county schools will incorporate transfer students from failing districts (7/15/13)
on students in failing schools have the opportunity to switch schools (7/8/13)
on St. Louis city’s fee and licensing of street performers (7/1/13)
on patronage jobs in the St. Louis Treasurer’s office (6/24/13)
on user fees for photographers at St. Louis county parks (6/17/13)
on reforming city manager rules (6/10/13)
on zoning and its alternatives (6/3/2013)
on speeding tickets, parking meters, and why we should get rid of the penny (5/28/2013)
on the recently completed legislative session (5/20/2013)
on property assessments (5/6/2013)
on Missouri’s alcohol distribution laws (4/29/2013)
on sales taxes (4/22/2013)
(3/25/2013)
(2/11/2013)
on the funding of Missouri roads (2/4/2013)
(1/28/2013)

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Pevely Should Disincorporate

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 07:00:15 +0000

In the past year (plus a little more), three Missouri towns — St. George, Mack’s Creek, and Quitman — have disincorporated. I particularly like the fact that a town named “Quitman,” well . . . quit. Uplands Park is now considering disincorporation, and another town needs to: Pevely.

Pevely, a small (but not tiny) town in Jefferson County, is having trouble on a number of fronts. It cannot pay for its employees’ health insurance, it cut fluoride from its water to save money, and it is staring down the barrel of a substantial judgment against it from a lawsuit. I am confident the troubles run even deeper.

Many small cities in Missouri, and especially in Saint Louis County, are having trouble providing a base level of services. For most of these situations, the county is better suited to provide local services in a cost-effective manner. Generally, this can be accomplished without raising overall county costs much, due to transferable taxes such as utility taxes, business licenses, state road funds, court fees, etc. (I am defining a transferable tax or fee as one where the tax is not layered. The city gets it if it is incorporated, and the county gets it if it is not.) This is especially true in Saint Louis County, where the sales tax pool comes into play.

Jefferson County has a solid county government system and it should take over services within the community of Pevely. Hopefully, Pevely can become another example of successful disincorporation in Missouri.

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Next Week’s Election Issues

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 02:05:27 +0000

Voters in Saint Louis County and Jackson County have some tax and smoking proposals on the ballot Tuesday. Most of the Show-Me Institute staff will be at a conference next week, so I’m posting some thoughts on the issues now. For the Jackson County voters, you get to choose whether to renew a sales tax focused on fighting drugs / crime / bad stuff everywhere. I highly recommend this column on the COMBAT tax by Patrick Tuohey for the details about the proposal.

The proposed smoking ban is on the ballot in Saint Louis County. Also, given that the city appears poised to do whatever the county does on this issue, the vote will in some ways determine whether there will be a smoking ban in the city, too. I recommend this testimony by Show-Me Institute policy analyst Dave Roland about the smoking ban issue.

Finally, there is a Saint Louis County sales tax increase on the ballot that is supposed to fund improvements to the county’s emergency communications equipment. I wish the proposal had a sunset date, like the above-mentioned COMBAT tax in Kansas City, but I’ll probably still vote in favor of it. I’ll probably also vote in favor of the smoking ban, which will definitely put me in the minority here at the Show-Me Institute.

Finally, it is disturbing — but not surprising — to see all the tiny villages in St. Louis County trying to pass new business taxes through the ballot. The village of Uplands Park has 460 people, and the entire village is about the size of a golf tournament check. Who do they think will pay the 8-percent franchise tax on telephones? This would just dramatically raise the phone bill of every person in the city. I hope the voters realize that.

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Tiny Little Cities and Policing for Profit

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 21:02:53 +0000

Today’s Post-Dispatch has an article on sobriety checkpoints in North St. Louis County. Issues such as the heavy use of police powers by extremely small cities have been in the news ever since the recent situation in St. George. Needless the say, the Post thinks the purpose of the checkpoints is not safety, but money. The above term, "policing for profit," is not mine. It is used by a police chief quoted in the article, who is opposed to the practice (emphasis added):

Normandy Police Chief Douglas Lebert said the stretch of Natural Bridge through Pine Lawn, Uplands Park and Beverly Hills didn’t appear to have a major problem with alcohol-related accidents. "I would say that the lack of solid crash data and the fact that they’re not concerned with the business owners’ perspective on this leads me to believe that it’s policing for profit, not policing to try to solve a problem," Lebert said last week.

Abuse of the law in issuing and enforcing traffic tickets is one of the most real and obvious examples of the problems with so many tiny municipalities in St. Louis County. Either police in small cities care about safety more than the police in larger cities and unincorporated St. Louis County, or the police in small cities are enforcing traffic laws for the purpose of funding government, rather than promoting safety. The answer is obviously the latter. The existing state laws that cap the percentage of funds any one city can raise from traffic fines needs to be tightened further. The notion of using government police powers to fund government itself is noxious. And, yes, forfeiture laws at higher levels of government are also a conflict.

If the state lowered the percentage of funds a tiny city is allowed to raise through traffic fines, those cities would have to get their money elsewhere or else disincorportate/merge. Since the primary means of acquiring additional revenue would involve raising property taxes, it would not take long before the citizens of the Uplands Parks and St. Georges of Missouri would force their cities to strongly consider either merging or dissolution.

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