Byrnes Mill voters will be asked April 8 to approve a use tax that would allow the city to charge its 2.5 percent sales tax on internet purchases. That’s the same rate people are charged when they shop at brick-and-mortar businesses in the city.
The measure requires a simple majority vote to pass, and if approved, revenue from the use tax would allow the city’s employees to join the Missouri Local Government Employees Retirement System (LAGERS) pension program, Mayor Rob Kiczenski said.
The city already has a retirement program, but it provides much lower funding than the LAGERS program, he said.
Byrnes Mill officials said offering a better pension program would help the city better attract and retain employees.
Kiczenski said it’s unclear exactly how much revenue the use tax would generate, but last year the city estimated it would be at least $20,000 a year and possibly more.
Jefferson County, as well as other municipalities in the county, have asked voters to approve the use tax, and it has failed in every jurisdiction except Crystal City and Kimmswick.
Crystal City’s first full fiscal year with its use tax on the books ended March 31, 2024, and during that year, the city collected $317,509.11 in revenue from its internet-based sales tax and allocated much of that revenue to street repairs.
The internet sales tax is commonly referred to as the “Wayfair” tax, a term from a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court case, South Dakota vs. Wayfair Inc., that overturned a ruling preventing states from taxing vendors who don’t have a physical presence in that state.
Missouri residents are already obligated to pay a 4.225 percent state sales tax on internet sales, but not all vendors collect it. Missouri residents who buy more than $2,000 in untaxed goods and services are supposed to report that on their state income tax returns.
A Missouri state law went into effect in January 2023 requiring out-of-state businesses to pay Missouri sales taxes if they had more than $100,000 in revenue during the previous calendar year. However, that law applies only to state sales tax, and revenue from that sales tax goes to the state.
Counties, cities and other entities can’t collect the sales tax on purchases made online unless a majority of voters in those jurisdictions agree to allow them to charge their sales tax on internet purchases and other out-of-state sales and receive that revenue.
In Byrnes Mill, voters have rejected the use tax four times – in the 2018, 2022, 2023 and 2024 elections. The April 2024 election saw the proposition fail with 211 no votes (about 52 percent) to 195 yes votes (about 48 percent).
