Kirkwood mayor proposes sales, property tax hikes
The mayor proposes that voters approve a sales tax of one-fourth of 1 percent for the fire department and a property-tax increase of 17 cents for each $100 of assessed value for the police department.Each would raise about $1 million, the mayor said on Monday. Each department would receive a minimum of $500,000 in additional money, he said. The remainder would replace general fund money spent on those departments and free the revenue for other municipal uses.
The two taxes would be separate proposals on the ballot. Swoboda said they could go before voters in the August primary election or in the election in April of next year.
The changes amount to a 3.5% increase in the sales tax and a 35.7% increase in the Kirkwood portion of the property tax. The property tax increase will be 2.6% of the total property tax bill (including the myriad county taxes). Kirkwood residents are loathe to approve new taxes, havign rejected a 34 cent increase in the property tax in 2004.
It appears that Kirkwood has taken some steps to reduce spending, and residents are likely to respond to requests for additional funds for public safety. But what purpose did the “community development director” and her secretary serve? What other unnecessary spending can be cut? This remains a city with a $15.9 million General Fund budget for 27,000 residents. Compare this with the nearby city of Webster Groves, which spends $12.2 million for its 23,000 residents (Kirkwood budget, Webster Groves budget). Were Kirkwood to spend at the rate Webster does, it could save well over $1 million each year.
Governments should tax as little and spend as little as possible, even at the local level.
April 10th, 2006 at 6:00 am
Count your lucky stars. At least in Missouri tax increases require a popular vote. Here in Illinois there’s no such requirement and, in the case of some taxing entities, there can be tax rate hikes without the approval of any representative body whatever.