The court date for Jefferson County 911 Dispatch to argue its case to keep collecting the 1/2-cent sales tax the agency has been receiving for nearly a decade has been postponed again, and the hearing has been moved outside of Jefferson County.
A hearing in the case originally had been set for Oct. 7 and then it was rescheduled to Nov. 18. However, that hearing will not be held either, and as of today (Nov. 15), a new date had not been set, 911 Chief Travis Williams said.
When the new date is set, the hearing will be held in Cole County, instead of Jefferson County, Williams said.
In August, the Department of Revenue announced that on Oct. 1 it would begin collecting just a 1/4-cent sales tax for 911, despite the results of the April election when Jefferson Countians overwhelmingly voted to allow the agency to continue collecting a 1/2-cent sales tax instead of cutting it in half, as a sunset clause had called for when voters originally approved the tax in 2009.
That DOR decision came after Sen. Paul Wieland, R-Imperial, added an amendment that blocks 911 from collecting anything higher than a 1/4-cent sales tax to Senate Bill 291, which was enacted this year and “cleans up” 2018 legislation aimed at expanding 911 coverage into underserved parts of the state.
However, on Sept. 9, Jefferson County Div. 1 Circuit Judge Joe Rathert issued a temporary restraining order directing the Missouri Department of Revenue to keep collecting the 1/2-cent sales tax for Jefferson County 911. The money is still being collected under the temporary restraining order, Williams said today.
At the next hearing, 911 Dispatch will ask the court to make the temporary restraining order an injunction, which would allow the full 1/2-cent sales tax to be collected until the agency can challenge Wieland’s amendment in court, Williams said.
Officials at 911 Dispatch have long argued that Wieland’s amendment unfairly singled out the agency.