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MSBA podcast breaks down Amendment 5, warns of potential risks to school funding
Summary
A Missouri School Boards Association podcast episode explained that Amendment 5 would phase out the state individual income tax by 2032 and shift a substantial share of general revenue to sales taxes, which presenters said could create volatility for school funding and put roughly $500 million for education at risk under discussed formulas.
Missouri School Boards Association officials highlighted the possible consequences of Amendment 5 in a July board-report segment and an accompanying episode of the MSBA podcast "Always Bored, Never Boring." The amendment would phase out the state's individual income tax by 2032 and replace much of that revenue with sales-tax mechanisms, presenters said.
The discussion called attention to how the state distributes funding to public education. A podcast participant noted that, under the formula described in the episode, about 58% of the next year's formula amount is expected to come from general revenue and that income tax currently contributes roughly 60% of that general revenue stream. "If you're off by even just a couple, you know, points on that, it's gonna be big," a participant said.
Podcast participants repeatedly urged listeners to ask candidates and proponents detailed questions before the Aug. 4 primary and to understand how the change would affect households and local school budgets. One participant said, "My hope is that listeners can take away from this that these are some questions that you should be asking," and another added, "I'm kinda scared of what that looks like if you're banking 60% of your budget on that kind of a revenue stream."
MSBA staff invited listeners to the full podcast for a deeper explanation and provided links on the MSBA website and streaming platforms. The board-report segment framed the episode as a primer for school districts and school-board members, emphasizing that replacing a steady, withheld income-tax stream with sales taxes could change cash-flow reliability for state education funding.
The podcast discussion included numerical examples given by the participants: the formula figure cited in the episode was about $4,280,000,000 for the next year, with presenters calling out an illustrative $500,000,000 magnitude of education funding tied to the general-revenue share. Presenters framed those figures as reasons for voters—and local officials—to scrutinize how Amendment 5 would be implemented.
The MSBA also noted that the organization had recorded the full conversation with MSBA senior directors Caitlin Whaley and Linda Quinley and made that episode available on the MSBA website and on Spotify and YouTube.
