City Earnings Tax Could Soon Be Chopped

Whether you work or live in St. Louis city one percent of your income goes to the city, but there is a solid push to push out the earnings tax. It would be a huge cost to the city. Just the same, a strong movement is out there to put the earnings tax to a vote.

Its an evening ritual, thousands leave the city on the commute home but they could be taking more of their earnings with them.

It cant hurt to let the voters have a say, says Marc Ellinger of the group Let Voters Decide.


Missouri millionaire Rex Sinquefield put up half a million dollars to help the group spark a statewide petition to let the voters decide if the 1% earning tax in St. Louis and Kansas City should go.

The earnings taxi is a real drag on the citys economy, says Ellinger, we feel its stifles business development and more importantly stifles job creation.

If it makes it to the ballot and wins statewide approval in November, it would go to city voters the following April. If St. Louis voters say yes the earnings tax for everyone working in the city and city residents working outside of city limits would dissolve over a ten year period.

St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay who is in Washington D.C. tweets: Im not a big fan of the earnings tax but I am a bigger foe of a much higher property tax.

Its our largest source of revenue and our most important tax, says Slays Chief of Staff Jeff Rainford who argues even non-citizen workers benefit from city services and says dropping the earnings tax would erase 1/3 of the citys budget every year, roughly 140 million bucks. A huge hunk of income but the Mayors office admits it could be beneficial but with a big only if.

True. the city has to put itself it a situation where it is better able to attract business and getting rid of the earnings tax could do that, says Rainford, but how can we do now when we put in jeopardy the important services that hold the city together.

The challenge for City Hall is how to replace the earnings tax and raising property tax could be just as detrimental to business the Mayor and Rainford argue. The Chief of Staff admits getting rid of the earnings tax is on the Mayors to-do list but he would rather it be done by the city in a uniform manner instead of by a mandate.

Let People Decide hopes to get at least 95,000 signatures to get the issue on the statewide ballot, if that passes then April of 2011 it would go before voters in the city, if they were to say yes then 10% of the earnings tax would be eliminated each year over ten years. If it gets to city voters and they agree to keep the earnings tax, the issue then would still come up every five years for another vote.