Seven words, enacted into state law nearly a half-century ago, have had a tremendous impact on the lives of Missouri taxpayers ever since.
And a man who lives in Imperial played a role in bringing it all about.
Meet Jim West, 81, who moved to Jefferson County with his wife, Charlene, in 2000.
When our story begins in 1968, Jim was a 30-year-old Affton resident – working full time as an employee at a printing company, helping to raise three daughters and fitting in college courses at night toward the history degree he would complete in 1973.
He really didn’t have time to be irked about anything, much less do anything about it.
But irked he was. And motivated.
Nowadays, residents pay personal property tax on possessions like vehicles, mobile homes, boats, and farm equipment and livestock. But back in 1968, Missourians were required to pay taxes on everything they owned and had to fill out a “valuation form” annually to come up with their tax total.
It was “furniture, household goods, lawn mowers, toys, appliances, silverware, rings and watches – everything,” West wrote in a letter to the Leader.
He found the tax unfair and onerous.
“Why should you pay a tax, every year, for a refrigerator you already paid taxes on when you bought it?” he asked when I called him Sept. 18.
Plus, the requirement led to rampant cheating, he said. “Nobody declared all of their personal items on the valuation form.”
So, Jim called his state representative to complain, and was given a copy of the Missouri Constitution to peruse.
Jim remembers reading it late one night while Charlene slept beside him, and growing excited when he came to the part about getting a measure on the statewide ballot through an initiative petition.
“I thought, ‘I could do this,’ but I really had no idea what I would be taking on,” he said.
Although he was worked up and raring to go, I’m guessing Jim waited until he was out of his jammies the next morning to call the Secretary of State’s Office.
He asked for direction on wording his petition properly and ascertained how many signatures of registered voters he would need statewide, apportioned by congressional district.
Jim prepared and printed a stack of petitions, then started mailing them out across the state, all at his own expense.
“I was young and full of vinegar and political energy,” he said.
He remembers getting positive media attention from the Post-Dispatch and the Globe Democrat, and endorsements from newspapers across Missouri.
He also began to expect daily phone calls from radio stations.
“There were a lot of news-only stations in those days, and I guess they had nothing else to talk about, so they’d call me in the morning and even at work to ask me how the campaign was going,” Jim said.
He had only a handful of helpers out in the field, and although Jim said he worked “assiduously” for about eight months and garnered tens of thousands of signatures, he realized he wasn’t going to have enough by the deadline to secure a spot on the ballot.
“I tried to put a brave front on it, but I could see the handwriting on the wall,” he said.
All that work...
But the story had another chapter.
State Sen. Johnny Johnson, an Affton Democrat, asked Jim to come to the Legislature to testify about the need to change the law.
A receptive General Assembly and governor passed a bill calling for a Nov. 7, 1972, public vote on Constitutional Amendment No. 1, which, among other exemptions, stated that “household goods and articles of personal use” (yep, seven words) would no longer be assessed for personal property taxes.
Voters weighed in with an 82 percent majority in favor of the amendment – 1,241,633 yes votes to 273,213 opposed.
You’ve got to wonder who would vote no. Maybe some who feared a drastic decline in state revenue? But even if so, I bet they were relieved when they no longer had to declare how many pairs of shoes they owned.
I’m sure glad I don’t have to count my mismatched spoons.
Jim said he felt “exuberant” when the change took effect.
He has a list of accomplishments over his long life that anyone would be proud of.
While still a young man, Jim opened his own printing company, eventually selling it at retirement; he and Charlene just celebrated their 63rd anniversary; and when dogged persistence got him that degree at age 35, he was the first in his family to receive a college diploma.
But he also can’t help but be a little proud of his “man on a mission” campaign to make life a little better for all.
“If they want to say a little something about it at my funeral, I’d be all right with that,” Jim said.
