The Nation - News from Aug. 21, 1988

An appellate court overturned an income tax surcharge but upheld a property tax increase levied to pay for the integration of public schools in Kansas City. The U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals held that U.S. District Judge Russell G. Clark had the authority to raise property taxes but not to enact the surcharge. State officials and others were happy the income tax surcharge was thrown out, but Missouri Gov. John Ashcroft called the rest of the decision “one more step toward the day when federal judges control more and more institutions in our society.” Lawyers for the plaintiff taxpayers’ group said they would appeal the property tax hike to the U.S. Supreme Court.