Starting this February, Manchester, Missouri will charge residents for trash pick-up.
The Mayor, Board of Alderman, and City staff worked diligently on the City’s 2018 budget to make it balance. The City for the last 20+ years has not raised taxes (in fact has reduced taxes), kept real estate/property taxes well below the approved limits, and provided free trash service which most recently cost the City more than $1.3 million dollars in 2017. In addition, revenues to the City, in recent years, have remained flat while expenses continue to rise…
With no additional revenue sources to consider, reducing the City’s expenses for trash service
(by sharing one-third the cost with resident) was the best option to achieve a balanced budget…
While Manchester taxpayers prefer free trash pick-up, paying $6.00 a month sounds better than cutting police or street maintenance. In other words, the leadership of Manchester made a reasonable choice to balance their budget.
Meanwhile, in Jefferson City, Governor Eric Greitens presented a fairy tale balanced budget:
► Greitens’ budget spends more than the consensus revenue estimate;
► The governor’s paperwork calls for borrowing $250 million when the state has a $500 million reserve; and,
► The governor ignores known impacts of previous state tax cuts and probable losses due to new federal tax cuts.
Oh, the governor calls for good sounding jumps in expenditures for foster kids. And, he claims to have found a new $163 million for roads.
Alas, it’s not real.
Missourians who actually watch the state budget (including the Missouri Budget Project and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch) don’t see a rosy scenario. In fact, the budget project expects a $240 million drop in state revenue in Fiscal Year 2019 (which starts July 1, 2018). [ www.mobudget.org ] The Post, meanwhile, states that the governor’s proposed budget goes $400 million over that consensus revenue estimate and guesses high on 2019 revenue growth – promising horrific cuts to come. [ http://www.stltoday.com/opinion/editorial/editorial-greitens-new-budget-is-just-like-the-old-one/article_e3ae90fc-6622-5baf-a299-829c55b6fedb.html ]
Simply put, Governor SEAL ignored reasonable governing.
What can the Missouri legislature do?
- First, admit there is a basic problem: the state can’t pay for the services most everyone agrees we need.
- Second, increase revenue through a series of progressive fee and tax increases.
Remember my suggestion that Missouri raise more for roads by basing new plate costs on vehicle value and not “taxable horsepower?” That could yield an additional $200 million a year.
Also, let’s abandon tax cuts passed in 2014 and other years and come up with a new income tax system which doesn’t get mushy above $9,000 a year. Yes, many working families struggle but significant numbers of Missourians are doing extremely well. They ought to pay more, yielding perhaps $800 million more each year.
As I’ve noted, Auditor Nicole Galloway states that Missouri is better than $4 billion below the dreaded Hancock cap. An additional billion dollars a year in state revenue would mean more money for roads, schools and health care. It can be raised without strangling the economy or starving kids. It’s time to be reasonable.
Unfortunately, I don’t expect good news from the Capitol. Instead of governing they will close their eyes and wait for the governor to slash more money from colleges, schools, Medicaid, senior services, mental health, social services…
Of course, though Manchester aldermen – with the support of their Mayor – approved that $6.00 a month trash bill, well, the letter explaining the change came from Larry Perney, City Administrator. Even reasonable folks can be politicians.
Missouri Budget Info: summary https://oa.mo.gov/sites/default/files/FY_2019_Budget_Summary.pdf
Department budgets https://oa.mo.gov/budget-planning/budget-information/2019-budget-information/fiscal-year-2019-executive-budget
Submitted by Glenn Koenen, WCD Member