During the pandemic, cities around the country faced a sudden decline in the number of people commuting in from surrounding areas. For these cities, this posed a major problem, since commuters who switched to working remotely made up a substantial portion of cities’ tax bases. Under existing tax rules, this meant that these commuters were no longer taxable, as these newly remote workers weren’t even setting foot in the city, let alone benefiting from city services. But while many cities faced these difficulties, St. Louis was one of just a few cities that came up with a solution that an ostrich burying its head in the sand would be proud of: simply pretending that nothing had changed.
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