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O'Fallon's Shell Game Tax Increases
by Lyn Schipper
Why is it that Missouri residents come out of the woodwork to vote against an increase in cigarette taxes but don’t even
flinch when their City Council votes to raise sales taxes again and again, strip center by strip center? I lost count of how
many times in the last 2 months I heard people say “I don’t smoke, but I am opposed to raising taxes on cigarettes” the logic
being if they tax cigarettes today it will be soda and chips tomorrow. I do not have a problem with this logic; as a matter of
fact I would say that is exactly what would happen. The problem I have is that if citizens are so concerned about tax
increases on an issue such as smoking, a habit many fortunately do not have, then why is there little concern when sales
taxes get raised without a vote of the citizens.
Think about this for a second, citizens soundly defeated a tax increase on a product even though many do not use the
product yet they are paying around an additional 1 cent over the voter approved sales tax rate in many developments and
strip centers. If residential happens to fall into one of these areas real estates taxes are also increased, again without voter
approval. In many cases citizens have absolutely no idea they are paying higher sales tax. A person could actually pay
7.45% sales tax in one store, walk across the street and pay 8.45% on the same item, in the same city. It is not only the
resident that takes a hit, the business owner having to charge the higher tax rate is also at a disadvantage.
These tax increases are disguised with clever titles such as Community Improvement Districts (CID) and Transportation
Development Districts (TDD). Politicians and developers obviously do not like to call them what they are, tax increases, so
they will refer to them as usage fees, user fees and funding mechanisms and there favorite line is if you don’t shop in one of
these districts you do not have to pay the additional sales tax. This logic brings me back to the cigarette tax. “I don’t
smoke, but I am opposed to raising taxes on cigarettes” could easily be “I don’t shop there, but I oppose raising sale tax in
that area”. Another little secret is what the additional tax actually gets you the taxpayer or even your community. The
answer is very little and in some cases nothing at all. This tax money does not go to the city, the school districts, fire
districts or any other government agency. This tax money goes into the pocket of the developer for things such as
recouping the costs for drainage, lighting and engineering fees among other things. Please remember the tax dollars
collected are going to pay for segments of a private development. I would tend to believe if more citizens were aware of this
misguided misuse of their tax dollars they would be outraged.
The Missouri Legislature along with your local City Councils holds the responsibility for this travesty. The very people that
promised you to be good stewards of your tax dollars are the ones giving it away. I know this probably is not a big shock to
anyone, but the reason why is a problem. The amount of money, power and influence builders, developers and their
lobbyist have with our elected officials is frightening. This industry gets what they want from our elected officials and you
end up paying the cost, in this case by paying higher taxes to help fund their projects. What happens when a city needs to
ask its residents for a tax increase for “Park Funding” as is the case potentially in O’Fallon? The voters will be asked to
approve a ½ cent sales tax increase to help provide more parks, a legitimate cause I might add. If approved O’Fallon will
have areas in which residents will be paying close to 10% sales tax on items purchased. Again, not all of this will go to
providing services to you, the taxpayer, it will go into the pocket of a private developer. If you are tired of this shell game
then let your state and local legislators know enough is enough. Taxes seem to be unavoidable and the wasteful spending
is a huge problem already so we certainly do not need to be forced into giving additional money away to anyone, especially
private entities in disguise....
by Lyn Schipper
Why is it that Missouri residents come out of the woodwork to vote against an increase in cigarette taxes but don’t even
flinch when their City Council votes to raise sales taxes again and again, strip center by strip center? I lost count of how
many times in the last 2 months I heard people say “I don’t smoke, but I am opposed to raising taxes on cigarettes” the logic
being if they tax cigarettes today it will be soda and chips tomorrow. I do not have a problem with this logic; as a matter of
fact I would say that is exactly what would happen. The problem I have is that if citizens are so concerned about tax
increases on an issue such as smoking, a habit many fortunately do not have, then why is there little concern when sales
taxes get raised without a vote of the citizens.
Think about this for a second, citizens soundly defeated a tax increase on a product even though many do not use the
product yet they are paying around an additional 1 cent over the voter approved sales tax rate in many developments and
strip centers. If residential happens to fall into one of these areas real estates taxes are also increased, again without voter
approval. In many cases citizens have absolutely no idea they are paying higher sales tax. A person could actually pay
7.45% sales tax in one store, walk across the street and pay 8.45% on the same item, in the same city. It is not only the
resident that takes a hit, the business owner having to charge the higher tax rate is also at a disadvantage.
These tax increases are disguised with clever titles such as Community Improvement Districts (CID) and Transportation
Development Districts (TDD). Politicians and developers obviously do not like to call them what they are, tax increases, so
they will refer to them as usage fees, user fees and funding mechanisms and there favorite line is if you don’t shop in one of
these districts you do not have to pay the additional sales tax. This logic brings me back to the cigarette tax. “I don’t
smoke, but I am opposed to raising taxes on cigarettes” could easily be “I don’t shop there, but I oppose raising sale tax in
that area”. Another little secret is what the additional tax actually gets you the taxpayer or even your community. The
answer is very little and in some cases nothing at all. This tax money does not go to the city, the school districts, fire
districts or any other government agency. This tax money goes into the pocket of the developer for things such as
recouping the costs for drainage, lighting and engineering fees among other things. Please remember the tax dollars
collected are going to pay for segments of a private development. I would tend to believe if more citizens were aware of this
misguided misuse of their tax dollars they would be outraged.
The Missouri Legislature along with your local City Councils holds the responsibility for this travesty. The very people that
promised you to be good stewards of your tax dollars are the ones giving it away. I know this probably is not a big shock to
anyone, but the reason why is a problem. The amount of money, power and influence builders, developers and their
lobbyist have with our elected officials is frightening. This industry gets what they want from our elected officials and you
end up paying the cost, in this case by paying higher taxes to help fund their projects. What happens when a city needs to
ask its residents for a tax increase for “Park Funding” as is the case potentially in O’Fallon? The voters will be asked to
approve a ½ cent sales tax increase to help provide more parks, a legitimate cause I might add. If approved O’Fallon will
have areas in which residents will be paying close to 10% sales tax on items purchased. Again, not all of this will go to
providing services to you, the taxpayer, it will go into the pocket of a private developer. If you are tired of this shell game
then let your state and local legislators know enough is enough. Taxes seem to be unavoidable and the wasteful spending
is a huge problem already so we certainly do not need to be forced into giving additional money away to anyone, especially
private entities in disguise....