Mo. Rev. Stat. § 94.080: Merchants' tax.

The council shall have power to levy, and all merchants shall pay to the city collector, an ad valorem tax equal to that which is levied upon real estate; the amount of which tax shall be determined and ascertained in the same way as the state and county tax is determined and ascertained; and the collector shall have power to enforce the payment of the same by seizure and sale, as in the collection of other taxes.