Before you know it, the November election will be upon us. There are several ballot initiatives that you should keep an eye out for. The Let Voters Decide Coalition just alerted me to the initiative proposed for the Missouri ballot that will authorize local sunset votes on existing tax in St. Louis and Kansas City every five years, starting in 2011. It will also prohibit any new local earnings tax from being imposed on working people and businesses in other Missouri communities that do not currently have one.
For generations, St. Louis and Kansas City have imposed a local 1% earnings tax on residents, commuters and businesses- anyone who lives or works in these cities. Under existing law, there is no sunset provision that gives taxpayers in these two cities a say whether the local tax should be continued indefinitely. Now, legislators from other parts of the state are considering imposing similar earnings taxes and nothing would prohibit them from imposing new local earnings taxes.
The Let Voters Decide Initiative is a ballot measure submitted for voter approval in the November 2010 election. A "yes" vote on this measure would allow voters to make decisions on local earnings taxes. For more information on the initiative or how you can help, check out LetVotersDecide.com.
This, and other ballot measures, will be included in NTU's 2010 Ballot Guide. Stay tuned this fall.