Taxes

Strange Bedfellows Agree: TIFs for Whole Foods and Mercedes-Benz Are Absurd

It's no surprise that Rex Sinquefield's Show-Me Institute opposes the granting of tax increment financing (TIFs) to developers who want to build a Whole Foods store in the Central West End and a Mercedes dealership just south of Forest Park. To them, these are an offensive and unnecessary handouts. ... More >>

The Joyce of Reason: Circuit Attorney Tweets Complaint About National Priorities

US military drone strikes killing civilians? PACs masquerading as non-profits to get tax breaks and influence elections? B-b-b-b-BORING. Let's talk more about NFL referees. Thanks to Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce for saying this morning what needs to be said: I get that people care about football ... More >>

Reports: Marshall Faulk Loses Florida Condo to Foreclosure

​In his 13 years in the NFL, Marshall Faulk eluded linebackers and defensive tackles like a football version of Houdini. Now the St. Louis Rams' Hall-of-Fame running back may have found the one opponent he can't escape: creditors.  Related content: Marshall Faulk's St. Louis condo sold for ba ... More >>

Lambert Airport's China Hub Is Dead, But May Live at MidAmerica Airport

​Midwest China Hub Commission Chair Mike Jones all but admitted defeat in the battle to pry tax breaks and public money from Missourians in order to build a dedicated aviation center at Lambert St. Louis International Airport. Jones blamed Missouri for being "cheap" as the main reason why the prop ... More >>

Local Tax Preparer Busted for Not Paying His Taxes

​Although Richard Gray Sr. spends some of the year working at a Chrysler plant in Indiana, he's been running a nice little side business out of his home in North St. Louis: Filing tax returns for friends, family and co-workers using TurboTax. He's even expressed a desire to do tax-prep full-time. ... More >>

Sinquefield's Fair Tax Proposal Accused of Using Faulty Data

​Financier Rex Sinquefield's "Let Voter's Decide" is under fire, accused of using erroneous data to justify its call for eliminating the state income tax and replacing it with higher sales tax. As the Columbia Tribune reported Sunday, Let Voter's Decide recently published a report on its websi ... More >>

Local Control Will Likely Have to Wait, Again

Special Session in Jeff City is not going according to plan.​Remember the scene in Juice when Bishop, Q, Raheem and Steel rob the corner store? They had everything all planned out. They timed the police patrols. They brought gloves, masks, and a gun. They knew old man Quiles, the owner, would be ... More >>

Sinquefield Donates $1.3 Million to Let Voters Decide; Files Lawsuit Against State Officials

​Rex Sinquefield has done it again. On Monday the St. Louis financier opened up his wallet and donated $1.3 million to Let Voters Decide, the campaign committee he's bankrolling that seeks to repeal Missouri's state income tax. Such gifts are not uncommon for Sinquefield. Last October he cut a sin ... More >>

President Obama's Jobs Plan -- Voices from Barrister's

Albert Samaha"Stimulus has become a bad word," says Lasky (left).​Last Monday in his jobs speech, President Barack Obama made a serious effort to wrest control of the Narrative away from the Republicans.For months Democrats have complained about how they kept ending up negotiating on Republicans' ... More >>

Study: "Fair Tax" Would Cost Missouri $2.5 Billion, Reduce General Revenue By a Third

Latest analysis predicts dire consequences of "fair tax."​The Missouri Budget Project is out with a new study that it says shows that several "fair tax" proposals for Missouri would cost the state billions. The report suggests that the efforts of financier Rex Sinquefield to replace Missouri's inc ... More >>

Missouri Realtors Lead Fight Against "Fair Tax" Initiative

Missouri realtors not sold on so-called "Fair Tax." ​Financier Rex Sinquefield may have found his most formidable (and numerous) opponent yet: Missouri's licensed real-estate agents. Last week the Missouri Association of Realtors (representing some 18,000 brokers in the state) renewed its oppositi ... More >>

Breed More Fat Kids, Pay More Taxes?

​Well, that might be the philosophy one Illinois lawmaker, who suggested yesterday that parents of obese children should perhaps lose their $2,000 state tax deduction. As the Post-Dispatch reports, state Senator Shane Cultra, a Republican of Onarga, suggested that loading up junior with too m ... More >>

Lemay Fire District Loses Grab at Casino Revenue -- Again

Moral of today's appellate court ruling: Nobody gets between St. Louis County and its casino revenue!​A south-county fire district has lost, again, in its attempt to grab a share of revenue from the River City Casino.In an opinion issued today, the Eastern District of the Missouri Court of App ... More >>

Comment of the Day: McCaskill as Tax Imposer

Today's comment comes in response to an article on how Missouri's Democratic senator, Claire McCaskill, recently acknowledged that she'd failed to pay personal property taxes on her private airplane. In responding to a McCaskill supporter, commenter "Hector Garbanzo" let loose this impressive screed ... More >>

Fair Tax Proposal Passes House Committee on Party Line Vote

Andrew Koenig​A resolution to replace Missouri's income tax with a so-called "fair tax" passed the House Tax Reform Committee yesterday. All eight Republicans on the committee voted in favor of the proposal; all four Democrats rejected the effort. The proposal (HJR8) by state representative Andrew ... More >>

Missouri's New Republican Auditor Shows His Stripes on Income Tax

Tom Schweich: Would you believe this guy is an accountant?​Missouri's new state auditor, Tom Schweich, said yesterday that he would not provide a financial impact statement to nine different ballot measures calling for the elimination of the state's income tax. The effort to replace Missouri's inc ... More >>

Ballpark Village Incentives Clear One Hurdle -- On to Board of Alderman

courtesy of Urban Review STLBallpark Village: Attractive, no?​This just in ...We're hearing via St. Louis Public Radio's Rachel Lippmann that the Missouri Downtown Economic Stimulus Authority has given its approval for a tax incentive package for the long-stalled Ballpark Village project.The packa ... More >>

Camp Zoe Owner Jimmy Tebeau Charged with Tax Evasion

Jimmy Tebeau​Add tax evasion to the list of legal maneuverings Missouri and federal officials are using against musician Jimmy Tebeau and his Camp Zoe festival site.In November state and federal authorities filed a complaint to seize the 350-acre property, located about 150 miles southwest of St. ... More >>

Jimmy Tebeau: Camp Zoe Owner Charged with Tax Evasion

Jimmy Tebeau​Add tax evasion to the list of legal maneuverings Missouri and federal officials are using against musician Jimmy Tebeau and his Camp Zoe festival site.In November state and federal authorities filed a complaint to seize the 350-acre property, located about 150 miles southwest of St. ... More >>

Animal Fund Check Box on Utility Bills Could Finally Go Away

Obligatory sad puppy photo.​The check box on St. Louis city water and property tax bills that allows residents to give money to the Animal House Fund has raised some $246,000 -- even though the shelter that the fund was intended to finance is off the drawing board.  As first uncovered by Dail ... More >>

Fair-y Tales: Russell Pearce and other illegal immigrant populists rely on misleading, right-wing reports to scapegoat immigrants and terrify penny-pinched Americans

Dooley/Corrigan Battle Heating Up

County Bout-y: Dooley v. Corrigan​The gloves are coming off in the battle for St. Louis County Executive. Yesterday incumbent Charlie Dooley released his tax returns for the past four years in an effort to prove he's an "open book" and challenged his Republican contender, Bill Corrigan to do the s ... More >>

Tuesday Tussle: Part 1, Sin Taxes Are the Best Solution to the Illinois Budget Crisis

Image sourceA two percent tax on apples would have kept the Garden of Eden solvent.​Illinois has essentially stopped paying its bills. According to the New York Times, the state has $62.4 billion in pension liabilities and "owes more than $5 billion for schools, rehabilitation centers, child care ... More >>

St. Louis Sheriff Dept. Employees Work 30-Hour Weeks, Get Paid for 40

James Murphy: He' s healthy (191 accrued sick days). His record-keeping? Not so much.​An audit of the St. Louis Sheriff Department found a lengthy list of accounting deficiencies, including the discovery that several workers get full-time salaries for part-time work. The audit (viewable here) by S ... More >>

Alderwoman Triplett Tries to Take On Vacant Buildings, Negligent Owners - Again

kaciestarrtriplett.comAlderwoman Triplett wants to put the smack-down on deadbeat property owners.​Tuesday morning, deadbeat property holders who let their buildings crumble will once again find themselves in the crosshairs of some pending aldermanic legislation. If the bill that Alderwoman Kacie ... More >>

The Dive Bomber Learns the State of the Union at LaRocca's

If you want to learn political theory, go to school. If you want to learn about the reality of politics, go to a neighborhood bar.I arrived at La Rocca's ten minutes into the State of the Union address. Five men sat at the bar, silent, engrossed in the speech. They turned to look at me as I tiptoed ... More >>

Metro to Voters: Pass Our Tax or We'll Cut Ya' in Half

That's pretty much the message that Robert Baer, president and CEO of the Metro transit agency, delivered to St. Louis County voters in today's Post-Dispatch. Baer says that if county voters do not approve a half-cent sales tax in April, the agency will be forced to cut half its service beginning ne ... More >>

To Preserve and Protect: Esley Hamilton has a boundless passion for St. Louis' architectural past

Ernie Isley

8 p.m. Friday, August 7, and 7 p.m. Saturday, August 8. Argosy Casino, One Piasa Street, Alton, Illinois.

Pyramid in Ruins -- Once Mighty Construction Firm Leads Foreclosures at Sheriff's Sale

flickr.com/photos/khowaga/2894778793Anyone interested in witnessing the final collapse of a once mighty empire might want to head down to the Sheriff's Sale next Tuesday (June 23) at the St. Louis Civil Courts Building. That's where the city (under the auspices of the sheriff's department) will be a ... More >>

Trolley Song: A new source of funds pushes forward the plan for streetcars on Delmar Boulevard

More North St. Louis Smoke Signals from Paul McKee and McEagle Properties

North- and south-side rec centers: separate and equal

Cause and Effect

Forum on Paul McKee's North-Side Doings Devolves into Name-Calling

Arrested Development

A look at north St. Louis from ground zero.

Isley Brothers

8 p.m. Friday, April 20. Fox Theatre (527 North Grand Boulevard).

My hot Mexican girlfriend makes me hang out with her whole family.

Can't a guy get some one-on-one time?

Best Local Girl Gone Bad

Kelly Layne Mullins

Answering the Call

IRS employees bring Jesus to the office -- and manage to raise Cain

House of Cards

So the Cardinals are taking bids. Good luck.

Trust Us

Six months after political heavyweights signed an agreement with the Cardinals, a deal is still up in the air

And the Emmy Goes To. . .

Week of December 12, 2001

Barking Up the Wrong Tree

Assessment fiasco has politicians howling for county assessor's head -- but is he really to blame?

Taking the Plunge

St. Louis' suburban cities have been competing for years to build the biggest and best places to play. Around here, keeping up appearances is serious business.

Take the Public Out of This Ball Game

DRAG NET

The county changes its online real-estate service after cops complain that the public is getting too much information

THE COLOR OF MONEY

A St. Louis American columnist wonders whether Sterling Moody's business is black enough

THE BIG FIX

A desperate St. Louis pays top dollar to gamble on a risky convention-center hotel

Easy Money

Developers like the Sansone Group are using a state law to rake in millions of tax dollars for retail projects in the burbs. Trouble is, the legislation was designed to help blighted inner cities.