Proposition A (Simple Majority)
Shall Chapter 605 of the Pevely City Code, Business, Merchant and Manufacturers License, be amended to impose a fee of $60.00 (Sixty Dollars) per employee with a maximum cap of $3,000.00 (Three Thousand Dollars) per Manufacturing Business with a minimum Fee for a Manufacturing License of One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) and to impose a fifty cents ($.50) per One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) in gross receipts on all sales within the City but to exclude sales of gasoline and diesel fuels at the pump with a Minimum Fee for Merchants License of One Hundred Dollars ($100.00).
A group of Pevely business leaders say they are on board with a reworked version of a Pevely ballot measure that will ask voters April 2 for an increase in business license fees.
Pevely voters rejected a merchant’s license fee hike in April 2012 after stiff opposition from Pevely businesses. The city came up with another proposal in late 2012 and announced plans for an April 2 vote, but that measure was also opposed by businesses.
The new version was developed with input from Progress for Pevely, a group representing about 30 of Pevely’s 129 businesses.
The Board of Aldermen voted 5-0 Jan. 14 to put the revised measure on the ballot.
The new measure is a compromise between the city’s Dec. 17 proposal and a plan Progress for Pevely members presented to the city in August.
The revision charges retail establishments and manufacturing businesses differently and calls for a smaller increase for manufacturers than the city sought in April 2012 or in its Dec. 17 proposal.
A simple majority vote is required for passage.
Under the revision, the fee for a merchant’s license for a retail establishment would be based on a business’s gross receipts. The fee would be 50 cents per $1,000 of annual gross receipts with the minimum charge set at $100 and no maximum. Fuel sales and receipts from non-taxed items including lottery tickets would not be included in the calculations.
The charge for manufacturers would be based on employee totals. The fee would be $60 per employee with a maximum charge of $3,000, a minimum of $100.
A retailer bringing in $80,000 in gross receipts would pay $100 under the revised fee schedule. A retailer that logged $5 million would pay $2,500.
A manufacturer with 10 employees would pay $600. The fee for a manufacturer with 50 employees or more would be $3,000.
Pevely currently charges a flat $40 merchant’s license fee. Current fees bring in a little more than $5,000 per year. Officials think the increase, if approved, would bring in about $55,000 annually.
Proposition B (Simple Majority)
Shall the City of Pevely impose a Hotel-Motel Sales Tax on the charges for all overnight sleeping rooms paid by transient guests of hotels and motels within the city limits of the City of Pevely, Missouri, in the amount of five percent (5%) per overnight; said tax revenue to be used to fund and promote recreational facilities, activities, community events and tourism within the City of Pevely.
If approved, the 5 percent tourism tax is expected to go into effect in 2013. It would apply only to hotel and motel room rentals.
The Pevely Super 8 is the only motel in the city. The tax is expected to generate roughly $20,000 per year based on room usage there, and more if other hotels are built.
Revenue from the tax would be used to promote tourism in Pevely and the city’s activities and community events, city officials say. It also would be used to improve and promote recreational facilities in town. Simple majority approval is required.
This will be Pevely’s first time to propose a tourism tax.