Sunday Poll: Should Large Non-Profits Remain Exempt From A Local Payroll Tax?

On Fridsy a bill was introduced at the St. Louis Board of Aldermen to increased revenue to pay for more police, and increase their salaries.

Alderman Stephen Conway says he’d like to end the city’s exemption of the half percent payroll tax granted to nonprofits.

“We are losing officers,” Conway says referring to the higher salaries being offered in nearby St. Louis County.

Conway estimates the payroll tax on large nonprofits could generate over $8 million a year to go towards giving police officers a raise and hiring more. (KMOV)

The official summary of Board Bill 58 is:

An ordinance pertaining to the payroll expense tax, repealing, subject to voter approval, those exemptions from the tax in section nine of ordinance 60737 for religious and charitable organizations and institutions, not?for?profit civic, social, service or fraternal organizations, not?for?profit hospitals and not?for?profit educational institutions that employ more than twenty (20) employees; submitting to the qualified voters the question whether the exemptions to the payroll expense tax for religious and charitable organizations and institutions, not? for?profit civic, social, service or fraternal organizations, not?for? profit hospitals, and not?for profit educational institutions that employ more than twenty (20) employees shall be repealed and a payroll expense tax of one?half of one percent (0.5%) imposed; with an emergency clause.

Which brings us to today’s poll:

This poll will close at 8pm tonight.

— Steve Patterson

St. Louis Board of Aldermen: Board Bills 49-61

Last week the St. Louis Board of Aldermen had new Board Bills 43-48 on their agenda for introduction but they adjourned after announcements — see video here.

ON AGENDA FOR INTRODUCTION TODAY 6/9/17:

• B.B.#49 – Davis  –An ordinance approving a Redevelopment Plan for 3904 Folsom.
• B.B.#50 – Conway –An ordinance authorizing and directing the Mayor and Comptroller to execute, upon receipt of and in consideration of the sum of One Dollar ($1.00) and other good and valuable consideration, a Quit Claim Deed to remise, release and forever quit-claim unto McGrath & Associates, Inc., certain City-owned property located at 1920 South Kingshighway Blvd.
• B.B.#51 – Davis –An Ordinance recommended and approved by the Airport Commission, the Board of Public Service, and the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, establishing and authorizing a public works and improvement program (the “Airfield, Building & Environs Projects”) at St. Louis Lambert International Airport, consisting of capital improvement projects to and for the terminal complexes, concourses, parking facilities, taxiways, runways, and associated Airport structures, and facilities, and environs including certain equipment and vehicles, and other associated Airport improvements, entitled “FISCAL YEAR 2017 PROJECT/EQUIPMENT LIST (PART 2)” at a total estimated cost of Nine Million Dollars; authorizing an initial appropriation in the total amount of Two Million Three Hundred Sixty Four Thousand Three Hundred Ninety Six Dollars from the Airport Development Fund; and containing a severability and an emergency clause.
• B.B.#52 – Spencer/Ingrassia –An Ordinance pertaining to the Animal Code; repealing Section Two of Ordinance 62941, providing definitions, codified as Section 10.20.010 of the Revised Code, and enacting in lieu thereof a new section on the same subject matter; repealing Section Five of Ordinance 62853, codified as Section 10.20.013 of the Revised Code, pertaining to Rules to be promulgated by the Health Commissioner and enacting in lieu thereof a new section on the same subject matter; repealing Section One of Ordinance 68463, pertaining to the prohibition of the keeping of certain animals, codified as Section 10.20.015 of the Revised Code, and enacted in lieu thereof is a new section on the same subject matter; repealing Section Eight of Ordinance 62853, pertaining to the regulation of animal housing, codified as Section 10.20.016 of the Revised Code, and enacting in lieu thereof a new section on the same subject matter; repealing Section Four of Ordinance 47883, pertaining to the penalty for violating certain sections of the Revised Code, codified as Section 10.20.160 of the Revised Code, and enacting in lieu thereof a new section on the same subject matter; repealing Section One of Ordinance 47883, pertaining to the definition of fowl, codified as Section 10.20.130 of the Revised Code; repealing Ordinance 42333, codified as Section 10.70.170 of the Revised Code, pertaining to the appointment of a veterinary surgeon; and containing a severability clause.
• B.B.#53 – Howard –An ordinance directing the Department of Public Safety, starting in 2018, to move the City of St. Louis’ National Night Out from the first Tuesday of August to the first Tuesday of October.
• B.B.#54 – Vollmer –An Ordinance recommended by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment authorizing The City to issue its Taxable Industrial Development Revenue Bonds (Huvepharma Inc. Project), Series 2017, in a principal amount of not to exceed $20,700,000 for the purpose of providing funds to pay the costs of acquiring, constructing, equipping and improving an industrial development project in the City.
• B.B.#55 – Conway –An Ordinance pertaining to the Transit Sales Tax imposed pursuant to Section 94.660, RSMo., as adopted and approved by the voters on August 2, 1994, pursuant to Ordinance 63168 creating the “City Public Transit Sales Tax Trust Fund” directing the Treasurer to deposit funds received pursuant to said sales tax into the “City Public Transit Sales Tax Trust Fund – Account ONE” appropriating $11,560,000 from the said sales tax for the period herein stated to the Bi?State Development Agency for certain purposes; providing for the payment of such funds during the period July 1, 2017, through June 30, 2018; and containing a severability clause.
• B.B.#56 – Conway –An Ordinance pertaining to the Transit Sales Tax imposed pursuant to Section 94.660, RSMo., as adopted and approved by the voters on November 4, 1997, pursuant to Ordinance 64111 creating the “City Public Transit Sales Tax Trust Fund” directing the Treasurer of the City to deposit funds received pursuant to said sales tax into the “City Public Transit Sales Tax Trust Fund – Account TWO” appropriating $11,560,000 from the said sales tax for the period herein stated to the Bi?State Development Agency for certain purposes; providing for the payment of such funds during the period July 1, 2017, through June 30, 2018; and containing a severability clause.
• B.B.#57 – Conway –An ordinance appropriating the sum of $21,877,000, as described and defined in Section 94.600 through 94.655, RSMo. 2000 as amended for the period herein stated, which sum is hereby appropriated out of the “Transportation Trust Fund” to the Bi?State Development Agency for transportation purposes; and further providing that the appropriation is conditional upon the Bi?State Development Agency supplying the Board of Estimate and Apportionment an annual evaluation report; further providing that in no event shall the Comptroller draw warrants on the Treasurer for an amount greater than the amount of proceeds deposited in the “Transportation Trust Fund” during the period from July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2018; and containing a severability clause.
• B.B.#58 – Conway –An ordinance pertaining to the payroll expense tax, repealing, subject to voter approval, those exemptions from the tax in section nine of ordinance 60737 for religious and charitable organizations and institutions, not-for-profit civic, social, service or fraternal organizations, not-for-profit hospitals and not-for-profit educational institutions that employ more than twenty (20) employees; submitting to the qualified voters the question whether the exemptions to the payroll expense tax for religious and charitable organizations and institutions, not-for-profit civic, social, service or fraternal organizations, not-for-profit hospitals, and not-for-profit educational institutions that employ more than twenty (20) employees shall be repealed and a payroll expense tax of one-half of one percent (0.5%) imposed; with an emergency clause.
• B.B.#59 – Conway –An ordinance, relating to the Solid Waste Services Fee established under Ordinance No. 68698, authorizing an increase to said fee of three dollars ($3.00) per month per dwelling unit commencing with the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2017, and containing an emergency clause.
• B.B.#60 – Conway –An ordinance relating to public safety; imposing, under and by the authority of Section 67.547 RSMo, subject to the approval of the voters, a one?half of one percent sales tax on all retail sales made in the City of St. Louis which are subject to taxation under the provisions of Sections 144.010 to 144.525 RSMo, solely for the purpose of providing revenues for the operation of the department of public safety, including police and fire divisions, in addition to any and all other sales taxes allowed by law; submitting to the qualified voters of the City of St. Louis a proposal to impose such tax; providing for an election and the manner of voting thereat; providing that if such question shall receive the votes of a majority of the voters voting thereon that such tax shall be authorized and in effect as provided in Section 67.547 RSMo; and containing an emergency clause.
• B.B.#61 – Green/Tyus/Guenther/Williamson – An Ordinance to require the provision of community benefits and executed Community Benefits Agreements for certain development projects seeking public support for investments above certain threshold levels; including certain exemptions; providing penalties and provisions for enforcement; and containing a severability clause.

The meeting begins at 10am, it can be watched online here. See list of all board bills for the 2017-2018 session.

— Steve Patterson

Option: Minority Of Drivers Put Others At Risk By Not Using Headlights When Visibility Is Reduced.

I got pulled over once for not having my headlights on when I should have. Years ago I bought a used Audi A4 where the dash lights were on if the car was on. Leaving a restaurant on South Grand my first night with the car I could see fine due to all the urban light pollution, but others couldn’t see me. A few cars before the Audi was a used Volvo that allowed me to leave the switch in the on position — the lights went on and off with the car.

Anyway, a longtime pet peeve of mine is people who don’t have their lights on when they should. I rarely drive now, just once or twice each weekend. Maybe a weeknight dinner out (will be on South Grand again tomorrow night for our 3rd wedding anniversary). Most drivers are good about using their lights, but 5-10% are not.

The non-scientific results of Sunday’s poll:

Q: Agree or disagree: Drivers should turn on their headlights only when they have trouble seeing the road.

• Strongly agree 0 [0%]
• Agree 3 [7.89%]
• Somewhat agree 0 [0%]
• Neither agree or disagree 0 [0%]
• Somewhat disagree 0 [0%]
• Disagree 12 [31.58%]
• Strongly disagree 23 [60.53%]
• Unsure/No Answer 0 [0%]

All but 3 answered correctly. The 3 who agreed with the statement are wrong — they’re likely among those putting at risk by not turning on their lights when they should.

Most polls don’t get many comments on social media, but this one did. These comments on the Facebook post explain what I planned to explain today:

From Beverly B:

Headlights aren’t just for the driver to see the road, they’re for others to see you. I (barely) see untold numbers of headlight-less drivers at dusk, on cloudy days, and in other low light situations and to me, it’s dangerous. I habitually turn my headlights on when I start my car and I wish all cars were made so that they were always on when the engine is running.

Jacob S replied to the above comment:

Seconded! I was just about to comment along these same lines. I’m glad someone else already did! Headlights are extremely important for pedestrians to see cars! The fact that this topic is even up for debate (amongst society, not necessarily this page lol) is infuriating. As long as there are humans walking on this planet motor vehicles should always have to have headlights on at night and daytime running lights on during the day. It’s a safety issue. I wish Missouri police would step up their ticketing of people who aren’t using their lights during the night and when it’s raining (which is actually required by state law and is posted on every roadway upon entering the state).

Joe B wrote:

Back around 2002, Regina Walsh came knocking on my door asking for votes to become a Missouri Representative. She also asked if there was anything I’d like to see passed. With a resounding YES, I said a law to turn on all vehicle lights in rain, fog or snow. Imagine a tractor-trailer going down the middle lane of I-270. Now imagine that truck needs to get into the right hand lane for an upcoming exit ramp. Now imagine a GRAY CAR sitting next to that truck’s right side in the rain with NO LIGHTS ON. You want me to send you a private message with the original letter I typed up to be read in front of the Missouri Legislators? I will. I’m the one that started the ball rolling! Wake up people… Inclement weather hinders others vision from SEEING YOU unless you turn on your damn lights. Twenty years I drove without a single wreck or ticket. – end of rant.

David B quoted Missouri’s law:

RSMO 307.020:

(9) “When lighted lamps are required” means at any time from a half-hour after sunset to a half-hour before sunrise and at any other time when there is not sufficient light to render clearly discernible persons and vehicles on the highway at a distance of five hundred feet ahead. Lighted lamps shall also be required any time the weather conditions require usage of the motor vehicle’s windshield wipers to operate the vehicle in a careful and prudent manner as defined in section 304.012. The provisions of this section shall be interpreted to require lighted lamps during periods of fog even if usage of the windshield wipers is not necessary to operate the vehicle in a careful and prudent manner.

The laws in all 50 states are similar, though they do vary. A total of 20 states, including Missouri, require headlights when wipers are in use. .

As usual. one missed the mark. Jim Z commented :

Daytime running lights (DRL’s) serve essentially the same purpose and are required in Canada, so GM chose to make them standard on their vehicles 20-some years ago. The upside is that they do make vehicles more visible from the front, but the downside is that they do nothing to make vehicles more visible from the rear. Given the spread of automatic headlamps, it’s amazing the number of vehicles I see driving around at night with just their DRL’s on and no tail lights. But the biggest offenders seem to be some bicyclists (and yes, they are vehicles) who ride at night, many times against traffic, with no lights, at all! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daytime_running_lamp

DRLs make cars more visible during the daytime when visibility isn’t reduced by clouds, rain, snow, etc. Automatic headlights? The used Corolla I nought in 2008 had them — they’d come on when I pulled into our parking garage or if it was very late out. I had to manually switch then on many times.

Back to comments on Facebook, Brian W used his wife’s vehicle as an example:

A lot of cars (like Diane’s new RAV4) that have automatic headlights are not calibrated low enough to activate when there’s rain or overcast conditions during the day. I still find myself having to manually activate the headlights.
I suspect many people don’t even know *how* to manually turn theirs on!

And DRL’s (and the always-illuminated dash) Are pox on humanity!!
I can’t even count the # of people I see driving with lights out at night because of these things!

If it were up to me all lights (front, rear, dash) would be on at all times. Short of that it wouldn’t be difficult for new cars to have lights come on when wipers are used. Once we all stop driving and use autonomous vehicles the issue of lighting will become moot. Until that time, it is relevant.

Automotive lighting is one of my favorite topics so future posts will address design and regulation.

— Steve Patterson

Crossing Hampton At Elizabeth

Four times per year I visit my doctor on South Hampton, 45-minutes each way via public transit to/from downtown. As a regular transit user and pedestrian I actually enjoy the time. What I don’t enjoy is crossing Hampton upon arrival.

The last five years I’ve taken MetroBus to my doctor — except maybe 2-3 times when my husband wasn’t using our car. So at least 15 times I’ve crossed Hampton at Elizabeth — West to East. The bus stop is in the 24th Ward, my doctor is in the 10th Ward.

Looking at older versions of Google’s Street View I know the pedestrian & traffic signals were added sometime between September 2007 and October 2009. The bus stop and curb ramps were all existing in September 2007.

Crosswalk and pedestrian signals, so what is there to complain about? Plenty.

The issue is the timing of pedestrian signals. First I need to cross the SB lanes of Hampton to the center median — not s problem — a walk is given when Elizabeth Ave traffic gets a green light. The walk signal might require pressing the activation button — I don’t remember. I reach the NB lanes og Hampton just as the pedestrian signal switches to don’t walk. While it would be nice to cross without having to wait I do realize the median is wide.

NB traffic gets a green light soon. After a while they get a red light. I should get a walk signal now that NB traffic has com to a stop, right?  No, that’s too logical. The NB traffic has been stopped because SB Hampton traffic has a left turn arrow. No traffic is crossing the crosswalk but the pedestrian signal on both directions of the NB Hampton lanes says “don’t walk.”No conflict at all — the city just didn’t think about the user or thought about it and didn’t care.

Weeks ago I mentioned the city’s bike/ped Twitter account while venting about this issue. The reply was

E-W peds conflict w N-S traffic…no time to cross if wired for xtra xing during SBL, safest to run w E-W traffic. Plenty of time to cross. 

Again, not enough time to cross all of Hampton at once. There must be a better solution, but I know the traffic engineer in charge of pedestrian infrastructure isn’t the person to figure it out.

It might take some new wires, but the pedestrian signals for NB should act independent of those for the SB lanes. If so, pedestrians wouldn’t get stuck in the median for a complete cycle of the traffic signals. This should have been the case when these were installed.

— Steve Patterson

Sunday Poll: When Should Drivers Turn On Their Headlights?

For more than a dozen years now this blog has been about issues that interest me, the things I experience as an urban dweller. Automotive lighting is one such area of interest — been thinking about future posts on headlight & taillight design.

Driving at night without headlights might sound extremely undesirable at the moment, but in the future, it might be the norm.

Luc Donckerwolke, head of design for Hyundai luxury offshoot Genesis, believes that headlights will soon be unnecessary. Talking to a group of Australian journalists, Donckerwolke said autonomy might negate the need for headlights in the future, since the cars won’t need to “see” the road ahead.

In fact, that reasoning is why the latest Genesis concept, the GV80 fuel-cell crossover, only has tiny little peepers up front. “All Genesis [cars] will have those quad lights eventually, but as you see we are reducing the size because we are anticipating the fact that, slowly, cars won’t need lights anymore,” Donckerwolke told Motoring.com.au. (CNET)

Future autonomous cars might not need headlights, but those driven by humans do. Today’s poll is related.

This poll will close at 8pm. On Wednesday I’ll discuss the issues surrounding headlight use and share the results.

— Steve Patterson