Each morning I see the sun rise over Columbia, Illinois. That’s why gasoline is so expensive on Telegraph Road.
A gallon of unleaded at the Quik Trip on Telegraph costs $2.699. Drive about two minutes west to the Quik Trip at Lemay Ferry and Lindbergh and a gallon is $2.499.
It’s those damn Illini, sneaking across the river to buy cheaper gasoline: the lowest price in Columbia is $3.199 at MotoMart [all from GasBuddy 1/15/26]. Telegraph is the first exit heading west on I-255 with gas stations, so, lazy drivers buy near me.
Now let’s talk milk. Yesterday we paid $3.99 for a gallon of house brand skim milk at the Oakville Dierbergs. The sales tax on that gallon was about 25¢ — which is low as we’re in unincorporated St. Louis County. In some municipalities the sales tax would exceed half a buck!
The Oakville milk price is also lower than the Columbia price, so, often I see Illinois plates on Dierbergs parking lot.
In his State of The State Address and budget talk, the used car selling governor of Missouri officially called for the elimination of the state’s income tax, replacing the revenue with increased sales tax.
That might cause me to go to Columbia, Illinois to buy milk.
Remember, the income tax yields better than $9 billion a year for Missouri’s General Revenue. In a good year Sales Tax could creep towards $5 billion. As we’ve discussed before, General Revenue is most of the state’s support for education, Missouri’s share on MO HealthNet, courts and parks and a lot of other basic stuff.
The outlines of Kehoe’s replacement plan include…
- Repealing The ban on applying sales tax to ‘services’ such as haircuts or plumber’s bills;
- Repealing sales tax exemptions on food, prescriptions, feminine products and such; and,
- Doubling the state sales tax from just over 4¢ on the dollar to 8¢ or 10¢.
That still won’t be enough to pay for what Missouri currently supports. (We’ll get into that another time.)
Today is just a quick reminder that a tremendous number of Missourians live near the state’s borders. To save tax costs, how many St. Louis area families would go to Fairview Heights or Alton or Columbia? How many Kansas Citians would follow the Chiefs to stores in Overland Park? Joplin folks to Oklahoma, Bransonites down to Arkansas, you get the idea.
Actually, this money migration is already happening. As a northeast Missouri local told me years ago, up at the corner the Missouri retail trade consists of “cigarettes, beer and fireworks.” For milk and meat Missourians go the big stores in Keokuk, Iowa.
In other words, a dramatic increase in Missouri’s sales tax rate may not yield what the Republican supermajority needs to run the state. Many of us might prefer to use some of that cheaper Missouri gas to save money on things sold in a neighboring state.
Stay tuned.
Glenn Koenen