Missouri Amendment 5, which all voters will see on the Aug. 4 ballot, asks whether the state should overhaul its tax base.
Right now, 61% of Missouri's general revenue funds come from income taxes. If Amendment 5 passes, that number would phase down to zero.
To make up for that loss of revenue, the General Assembly would have five years to implement new sales taxes on any good or service in the state.
Who that helps and who that hurts, ultimately comes down to a question of income.
"I feel like people are struggling now more than we've ever seen people struggle," said Maronica Kitchen, a retired social worker from Columbia.
After recently undergoing back surgery, Kitchen has been living with her daughter and grandchildren in Centralia.
Kitchen lives off a fixed income from Social Security and retirement from her late husband's service in the Army. She also works part time at Love Columbia. On most Fridays, she's helping people who come to visit the Hogan House, a neighborhood food pantry and gathering space just off Demaret Drive, which is northeast of Columbia.
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"I have a love of helping, (and) there's a lot of need out there," Kitchen said.
While she said the people she helps are her priority, she also admitted the small amount of income she gets from this helps her, too.
"I retired, but then I went back to work because I was bored, but I also needed that little extra income so that it's not so tight after I pay the daily services that I need," Kitchen said.
Kitchen said she's concerned that if Amendment 5 passes, causing sales taxes on everyday goods and services to go up to make up for the lost revenue from income taxes, she'd be left with very little.
"With groceries, and if utilities go up — it just eats at what little I have left after that," Kitchen said.
What goods and services would be subject to sales tax increases?
Media campaigns circulating the state have brought into question what Amendment 5 would do to sales taxes on everyday items such as gas and groceries, and ballpark figures of median sales tax rates if it passes.
But there is no true way of knowing what goods and services would be subject to sales tax increases unless the measure passes.
There are no specific goods and services listed in Amendment 5, just simply the language allowing lawmakers to impose and raise sales taxes on "any goods and services." It also doesn't exempt any goods or services from this.
The amendment is also not a blanket income tax cut. Sales tax revenue would first have to increase, which would automatically trigger reductions in the state income tax starting at the top rate, until eventually it is eliminated entirely.
Amendment 5, at its core, is a question of whether someone in Missouri is better off paying more in sales taxes than income taxes and whether they trust state lawmakers with the authority to make that switch.
"The worst way to tax people is on their income because the government just takes it right off the bat," said John Martin, a Republican state representative from Columbia who's running for reelection.
Outside of the statehouse, Martin owns and operates Pro Pumping and Hydrojetting, a septic tank draining business in Columbia. Martin said he has 10 employees, and that they're one of the reasons he supports Amendment 5.
"My guys work hard, and sometimes they'll put in quite a bit of overtime, and they'll say to me, they'll make comments like, 'Wow, I worked all this overtime, but so much of it was taken out,'" Martin said.
'This is really a tax shift'
Missouri has a near-flat income tax rate, where anyone making more than $9,191 per year pays income taxes at the highest rate of 4.7%.
The state sales tax rate is 4.225%, and that gets added on top of local sales taxes. For instance, combined sales taxes are usually around 8% in Columbia, depending on what part of the city you're buying something in.
Currently, most services in Missouri are not taxed.
Advocates for Amendment 5, including Martin, argue that broadening the sales tax base by adding new goods and services to it will prevent people's overall sales tax rate from going up by all that much.
However, Amy Blouin, president and CEO of the independent nonprofit organization The Missouri Budget Project, emphasized who this shifts a greater share of the state's tax burden onto.
"This is really a tax shift from very wealthy folks to everybody else," Blouin said.
The Budget Project has analyzed the regressive nature of states reliant on sales taxes, where poorer people pay a higher share of their income in state taxes than wealthy people do.
"Things like groceries, gasoline, your health insurance, your doctor's visits, your medications, childcare — all of the things that people need to be able to thrive will be more expensive," Blouin said. "And those with the least resources are going to be the hardest hit."
Martin argued not specifying certain services or industries in Amendment 5 was a deliberate move by lawmakers who support it.
"So, when we're asking for the authority to eliminate the income tax and then to potentially expand the sales tax, it's not wise for us to put into a constitution, 'Okay, we're going to tax A, B, C and D,'" Martin said.
However, Kitchen said her concerns with Amendment 5 aren't alphabetical, but rather financial.
"I do my budget every payday. I see what's left. I try to put some back for my house, put some back for purchasing a car. There may not be money to put back," Kitchen said.
It will ultimately be up to Missouri voters on Aug. 4 to decide whether to amend the state constitution to include Amendment 5, but it could take years for them to feel the true effects of it if it does.
