Our local government taxing authority comes from State law. There are all kinds of taxes that cities, counties, and special districts may ask the voters to adopt. In the case of Proposition P (Board Bill 60), the public safety sales tax increase on the November 7th Special Election ballot, the enabling law is Section 67.547 RSMo.
It’s a county sales tax, not a city sales tax. It’s the same section of State law that St. Louis County used to pass its Proposition P (Ordinance 25678) last April.
In the event that the City of St. Louis passes Proposition P and later is annexed into St. Louis County as a municipality, the City would no longer collect the sales tax for itself. Instead, St. Louis County would collect the tax from us and give some of it back to the City. Distribution of taxes has long been a contentious issue in the County.
Having less funds from the tax, the City would need to raise taxes to make up for the loss or reduce services commensurate with the loss.
The other possibility is that the City is annexed, likely unwillingly, as an unincorporated area or areas served by St. Louis County Police Department and one or more fire districts, as the County does not operate a fire department. Under that scenario, certainly a big pot of money, say from privatizing Lambert Airport, would come in handy to pay outstanding commitments from the former city as a city-county, such as pensions for its former police, firefighter, municipal and county office workforce.
It seems odd that in all the talk and posturing on the City being annexed into the County, usually referred to as a merger or consolidation, that there has been no conversation about taxes and fees. Which taxes and fees currently collected by the City are city revenue and which are county revenue? How much revenue loss would there be for the City? How do we continue to pay for services?
–Marie Ceselski, 7th Ward Democratic Committeewoman
The Great State of St. Louis 