JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri officials have dropped an appeal of a judge's decision placing a real estate tax initiative on the November ballot.
The appeal was withdrawn Friday after Cole County Circuit Judge Paul Wilson modified an earlier ruling in favor of the measure.
The initiative would amend the Missouri Constitution to bar taxes on the sale of homes and land. Missouri does not currently have such taxes, though many other states do.
Wilson's original 40-page ruling raised questions about the constitutionality of state laws imposing requirements on petition circulators and signers. His new one-page ruling merely orders the measure on the ballot without any lengthy rational.
Attorneys for Missouri and ballot supporters had jointly asked Wilson to rescind his original ruling.