The proposed Missouri State income tax repeal, which is set to go before voters later this year, has members of the Wright City R-II School Board worried about the district’s potential financial future.

At the group’s April meeting, members discussed its possible impact.

Board member Erin Williams said that if passed by voters in November, the income tax repeal would have far-reaching negative impacts on the R-II district, Warren County, and education in the state as a whole. If passed, the amendment would, on average, result in a 15-18 percent drop in total district revenue due to the loss of state funding.

“With what is being projected and with Senate Bill No. 3, in Warren County, we’re going to have to get creative,” Williams said. “(That’s) because the public is going to see something different and will have to expect something different, or we’re going to have to start asking for more money. There’s no way we’re going to be able to provide the same level of services that we do with that much less money. A household budget can’t do it. I don’t know how the state expects us to do it after telling us to depend more on local money. They cut local money and cut state money. I don’t know how they expect us to still educate 88 percent of the workforce.”

The discussion was spurred by the Missouri School Boards Association (MSBA) Board Report section of the meeting.

As part of the report, Linda Quinley, MSBA Senior Director of School Finance, said that passage of the income tax repeal would force districts to reevaluate their long-term financial viability with a significant loss of state funding.

“One of the most important things we can be doing right now is thinking long term, financially,” Quinley said. “I believe, with my whole heart, that we are headed into the three toughest financial years we have seen in a very long time in Missouri related to funding. It’s going to be about revenue challenges. We encourage (looking) long-term during the budget process – three, four and five years out.”

According to the Associated Press, Missouri’s proposed constitutional amendment directs the General Assembly to eliminate the individual income tax through gradual reductions based on revenue growth. To spur that along, it gives lawmakers the authority to raise revenues by imposing the sales tax on “any goods and services” – sidestepping a constitutional ban on expanding the sales tax base that voters approved in 2016.

The legislature would have five years to decide which additional sales to tax without needing another vote of the people.

But some voters may not realize they are authorizing more sales taxes. The ballot wording asks whether to phase out the income tax and “modify” the sales tax — avoiding the words “increase” or “expand.”

The amendment, which was approved last week by the legislature, will appear on the November ballot, unless Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe sets an election sooner.

Board member Mary Groeper spoke about the dire financial situation if voters pass the amendment.

“The best we could hope, if it passes, would be that the courts would kick it out as unconstitutional,” Groeper said.

“That would be a year away,” Williams said.