Jefferson County 911 Dispatch may continue to collect its full 1/2-cent sales tax without further legal action after Gov. Mike Parson recently signed legislation ending a long-standing dispute about the tax.
Travis Williams, the Jefferson County 911 Dispatch chief, said language included in Senate Bill 24, a public safety bill, which Parson signed July 27, means the agency he heads up no longer has to worry about losing half of its funding source.
“I’m very happy it’s over and we can continue to provide the best service possible to our citizens,” he said. “What Senate Bill 24 did was remove the language from State Statute 190.327 (that limited Jefferson County 911 Dispatch to collect no more than a 1/4-cent sales tax).”
The dispute began when then-Sen. Paul Wieland, R-Imperial, added a legislative amendment to Senate Bill 291, which went into effect in 2019. The bill was designed to “clean up” previous legislation intended to expand 911 coverage into underserved parts of the state, according to state publications at the time.
Wieland’s amendment was intended to prohibit Jefferson County 911 Dispatch from collecting anything above a 1/4-cent sales tax, even though in April 2019 Jefferson County voters approved 911’s request to continue collecting the 1/2-cent sales tax instead of reducing it by half, as called for in a sunset clause that was part of the sales tax proposal when voters first approved the 1/2-cent sales tax in 2009.
Williams noted that the tax dispute has been a long struggle.
“It’s kind of a sigh of relief,” he said. “We’ve been fighting this battle for about five years. It removes a cloud over our head as we go forward.”
He said 911 collects about $9 million per year in revenue from the 1/2-cent sales tax, and it would have been devastating for the agency if it had to reduce that amount by half.
“We never really considered having to give money back. I don’t know how (the Missouri Department of Revenue-DOR) could have given the money back to taxpayers. But, it was still hanging over our heads where we were worried about losing that money in the future.”
Williams said he credits current Jefferson County legislators for championing the agency’s cause and getting the language removed that could have cut its funding.
John Scullin, chairman of the 911 Board of Directors, said he and other agency leaders have always felt Wieland’s amendment unfairly singled out their agency.
“What it boiled down to is a person or small group of people who did not like the tax,” Scullin said. “I think everyone can agree it was special legislation to stop us from collecting the voter-approved tax funds.”
Wieland, who has since left the Senate after reaching its term limits, said he opposed the agency’s pursuit to keep the full 1/2-cent sales tax, saying that when voters initially approved it, they wanted it reduced in 10 years. He also has disputed that the agency needed the extra money generated by the 1/2-cent sales tax.
Last week Wieland said he still feels the 1/2-cent sales tax should have reverted to a 1/4-cent sales tax.
“It doesn’t surprise me,” he said of the move to remove his amendment that could have limited the sales tax to 1/4 cent. “I still think collecting it is a disservice to the taxpayers.”
Scullin said the dispute cost Jefferson County 911 Dispatch significant legal expenses, not to mention the legal fees agencies enforcing the legislation have paid.
“We’ve spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on this,” Scullin said.
Williams said 911 already has paid $335,000 in legal fees stemming from the dispute, adding that by the time it’s over, the agency could pay about $400,000.
Scullin said that the agency’s sales tax funding allows it to maintain quality service.
“We are at 99 percent compliance in answering incoming 911 calls,” he said. “Compare that with St. Louis city, where they have a very high percentage of not answering calls.”
From the start, Jefferson County 911 Dispatch officials contended that Wieland’s amendment unfairly singled out the agency since it stipulated that 911 agencies serving counties with a charter form of government and with a population between 200,000 and 350,000 could not have a sales tax greater than 1/4 cent. Jefferson County is the only county in the state that meets that criteria, Williams said.