A Free-Market Guide for Missouri Cities, Towns, and Villages Part Two: Taxation

A Free-Market Guide for Missouri Municipalities is a multi-part series by David Stokes, director of municipal policy at the Show-Me Institute, offering practical, free market-oriented reforms for improving local government across the state. Each installment focuses on a core area of municipal policy-combining real-world examples, legal context, and academic research to help cities, towns, and villages better serve residents and taxpayers.

The second installment, A Free-Market Guide for Missouri Cities, Towns, and Villages-Part Two: Taxation, examines how Missouri municipalities fund themselves and how they can do better. It highlights the state's overreliance on sales and income taxes-especially in St. Louis and Kansas City-and makes the case for shifting toward more stable and growth-friendly revenue sources like property taxes and user fees. The report evaluates local tax tools such as land taxes, gas taxes, use taxes, and excise taxes, while also addressing the widespread misuse of tax subsidies and special taxing districts.

20250313 - Free Market Guide to Cities Part 2 - Stokes