Sales Tax Collections

Metro is funded by sales tax collections in St. Louis City, St. Louis County and St. Clair County. In the City of St. Louis the Board of Alderman have routinely appropriated all the money collected from the 1974 half cent sales tax and the 1994 quarter-cent sales tax for MetroLink expansion. In St. Louis County, only about 58 percent of the money collected from the 1974 tax is appropriated by the County Council to Metro, the rest goes to roads. Part of the issues with Metro's funding is that the growth in sales tax revenue has been flat for years in the City and only growing very slow in St. Louis County. As an example in fiscal year 1997 the half cent sales tax collected in the city resulted in $17.1 million in collections. In 2006, the collections where slightly better at $17.5 million.

In the County the comparable figure is $65.1 million in 1997 and $76.7 million in 2006. In 1997, the county appropriated $33.5 million to Metro and in 2006, the number was $45.3 million. Metro should begin to pay dividends to both the city and county if the right land use decisions are made where by increased density is promoted around stations resulting in additional retail sales.

In Illinois, things are different. The sales tax receipts are collected by the St. Clair County Transit District. In turn the District, contracts with Metro for bus and rail service. Illinois MetroLink riders often ask why there are not additional trains beyond Emerson Park, the answer is St. Clair County has not contracted for that additional service.


Each month Metro produces a report on sales tax collections in the city and county. Through the first three months of the year, collections are funning 5.1 per cent ahead of last year in the county and 4.3 percent ahead in the city.