By AP/St. Louis Public Radio
ST. LOUIS – Top administrators in St. Louis and Kansas City are pledging to get the word out that an initiative advanced by Missouri voters could cost the state's two biggest cities hundreds of millions of dollars.
Proposition A, which passed handily Tuesday, requires St. Louis and Kansas City to ask local voters in April and every five years after that to allow their earnings taxes to continue. That's a 1 percent levy on the earnings of people who live or work in the city.
If voters in either city approve repealing the tax, it would be phased out over 10 years, in one-tenth percent increments. Officials say such a loss could force cuts in services such as police and fire protection.
St. Louis' mayor already has formed a committee to campaign against the measure until it comes up for a vote. Kansas City's mayor says he'll press the point to voters there that losing the tax revenue could have devastating effects.