Two Short Videos on Property Taxation in Missouri

Economy | September 16, 2011

By David Stokes | Read Time 1 minute

Property Tax Districts: What Are You Paying For?

In this video, Show-Me Institute Policy Analyst David Stokes gives a nearly comprehensive list of the types of property taxes that exist in Missouri, and what those property taxes support. Many different facilities and services are funded by dedicated property tax districts which often have geographic boundaries independent of the usual city, town, or county boundaries.

Streetlights in This Neighborhood Are Funded With Property Taxes

In this video, Show-Me Institute Policy Analyst David Stokes explains the Elmwood Park Streetlight District. Missouri law permits the creation of independent property tax districts for the purpose of installing and maintaining streetlights in a certain area. The people of Elmwood Park did just that.

Both of these videos are excerpts from a larger look at property taxation in Missouri.

About the Author

David Stokes

David Stokes is a St. Louis native and a graduate of Saint Louis University High School and Fairfield (Conn.) University. He spent six years as a political aide at the St. Louis County Council before joining the Show-Me Institute in 2007. Stokes was a policy analyst at the Show-Me Institute from 2007 to 2016. From 2016 through 2020 he was Executive Director of Great Rivers Habitat Alliance, where he led efforts to oppose harmful floodplain developments done with abusive tax subsidies. Stokes rejoined the Institute in early 2021 as the Director of Municipal Policy. He is a past president of the University City Library Board. He served on the St. Louis County 2010 Council Redistricting Commission and was the 2012 representative to the Electoral College from Missouri’s First Congressional District. He lives in University City with his wife and their three children.

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