Put Down That Pastry

The city of Kansas City, Missouri, is considering a three-eighths-percent sales tax to pay for light rail. If voters approve the measure, the city's already formidable sales tax will reach new heights. As it is, residents who buy the wrong thing in the wrong part of town get slammed with sales taxes totaling more than 10 percent.

Cash registers inflict the most damage at the concession stands at Kansas City International Airport. If the light-rail tax passes this fall, a preflight cinnamon roll will come with a staggering 11.35-percent surcharge. For every dollar you spend on food at the airport, here's where the existing 10.975-percent tax goes.

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