ST. LOUIS • A campaign to end the city's one-percent earnings tax was announced on Tuesday.

The effort is aimed at educating voters on the 1940s-era tax that has become controversial in Jefferson City and across the region.

"We believe the earnings tax is a regressive tax that hurts the working poor by taking money directly out of their pockets," said "Vote No on the E Tax" committee spokeswoman Stephanie Lewis.

The group has released a video showcasing a preview of its campaign.

City voters will decide on April 5 whether to continue the tax. The income tax is placed on all city residents and anyone who works in the city.

The committee is funded by St. Louis financier Rex Sinquefield, the Missouri mega-donor who has been sharply critical of the tax.

Sinquefield pushed through a legislative measure requiring St. Louis and Kansas City voters to reauthorize the tax every five years. St. Louis voters reauthorized the tax in 2011 with 88 percent of the vote. If voters ever fail to pass the tax by a simple majority, it would be phased out over 10 years.