KC voters decide to continue to tax everybody’s earnings

Tuesday’s vote on the earnings tax in Kansas City, Missouri, resembled a worker’s decision to contribute to a 401(k) retirement plan. Voters came to the conclusion that the 1-percent tax on their wages was worth keeping because it’s “matched” by people who work in Kansas City but live in surrounding communities.

The e-tax cruised to an easy victory, surviving the challenge to its legitimacy. Wealthy financier and libertarian Rex Sinquefield spent a reported $11 million on a statewide ballot measure that forced Kansas City and St. Louis to put their earnings taxes up for a vote. Kansas City voters approved the tax by a margin of 7 to 2. In St. Louis, the ratio was 9 to 1.