Unlike school districts and fire protection districts, which rely on property taxes that take longer to reflect economic shifts, local cities and counties are far more reliant on taxes tied to a service sector devastated by stay-home orders intended to limit COVID-19. Some cities in St. Louis County don’t impose a property tax at all.

More affluent municipalities with a cushion of reserves may be able to weather a few months of substantially lower sales tax revenue, but those that were already in poor financial shape will struggle — and may even be forced to merge or dissolve.

Missouri and its local governments are especially exposed to this crisis. Unlike 48 other states, Missouri’s GOP-dominated legislature has not passed a bill to collect online sales tax as allowed by the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 Wayfair decision. Conservative lawmakers insist any such collection must be offset with state income tax cuts, and the prospects of a bill bringing the state in line with the rest of the country are up in the air along with Missouri’s legislative session.