The Parkville Board of Aldermen agreed to wait until the November general election to place a use tax proposal up for a public vote.
Earlier this month, the board discussed placing a use tax on out-of-state purchases on the August ballot, but delayed further discussions to see if there were any changes to state statute. The proposed tax would match the local sales tax, which is currently two percent, with the intent to allow local business to better compete with out-of-state outlets.
At the regular board meeting last week, the board again discussed the proposed ballot measure after the state legislature made moves to approve “Wayfair” legislation for Missouri. The 2018 Supreme Court decision in South Dakota vs. Wayfair, permitted states to mandate that businesses without a physical presence in a state, and meeting certain criteria, can collect and remit sales taxes on transactions in the state. Missouri was the last state to adopt the policies permitted by the Wayfair decision.
City administrator Joe Parente said the compromise bill that passed late last week was beneficial for Parkville in allowing the offset of loss of revenue from sunsetting franchise fees and does not require a second vote of the people.
“We were possibly in a situation that if we took this to the voters and had it approved in August then we’d have to come back again before the law became effective and ask the voters again – now we don’t have to worry about that,” Parente said.
However, the city still has a dilemma. The new law does not become effective until after the August election. For the November election, the deadline to get ballot measures to the Platte County Board of Elections is just a few days before the law takes effect. Parente said the city can send its original ballot language to the county before the deadline and then file a petition with the circuit court to amend the ballot language once the state Wayfair law takes effect.
City attorney Chris Williams said it’s a simple process allowing modification of ballot language within two weeks after the filing date.
Mayor Nan Johnston said the proposed language was still confusing and didn’t clearly explain the use tax would serve as a replacement for regular sales tax on out-of-state purchases. Parente said some additional explanation could be added to the ballot language, but the city’s educational campaign would need to cover the bulk of education on sales and use taxes.
Johnston said residents often complain they don’t receive correspondence from the city and wanted to eliminate that uncertainty by adjusting the ballot language itself.
“I want to make sure people understand this is only on online purchases from out-of-state companies,” she said.
Williams said state statute restricts ballot language, but perhaps some adjustments could be made to clarify the language.
Aldermen Marc Sportsman and Brian Whitley discussed keeping changes to ballot language minimal to avoid any future challenges.
Platte County itself, Kansas City and Platte City already collect use taxes.
The board also heard a presentation from Tom Jacobs with Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) regarding a permit issued to Holliday Sand and Gravel Company by the Army Corps of Engineers to perform commercial dredging of the Missouri River at English Landing Park. While Holliday has already held a permit in the past, late last year it was extended into this spring to allow additional dredging.
A public hearing date has also been set for Tuesday, July 6 regarding a proposed six percent increase to the city’s sewer system.