Jefferson County 911 Dispatch officials vow to fight the Missouri Department of Revenue’s recent decision to collect just half of the 1/2-cent sales tax 911 has received ever since voters agreed in 2009 to establish the tax.
The DOR said it will begin collecting just a 1/4-cent sales tax for 911 on Oct. 1, despite the results of the April election when Jefferson Countians overwhelmingly voted to allow 911 to continue collecting a 1/2-cent sales tax instead of cutting it in half, as a sunset clause had called for when the tax originally was approved a decade ago.
That DOR decision came after Sen. Paul Wieland, R-Imperial, added an amendment that blocks the Jefferson County agency 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.
Travis Williams, Jefferson County 911 Dispatch chief, said Wieland’s amendment to the bill unfairly singles out his agency.
The amendment stipulates that 911 agencies serving counties with a charter form of government and with a population between 200,000 and 350,000 cannot have a sales tax greater than 1/4 cent. Jefferson County is the only county in the state that meets that criteria.
“I feel it’s special legislation and it’s illegal,” Williams said. “We had an election and the citizens of the county overwhelmingly supported continuation of the full 1/2-cent.”
Officials with 911 say they believe the voters’ decision ultimately will stand.
“I feel we’re on the winning side of the argument,” Williams said on Aug. 15.
For now at least, the DOR is taking Wieland’s side. “We got a letter from DOR earlier this month – I don’t know the exact date – saying with Senate Bill 291, our full sales tax will not all be collected as of Oct. 1,” Williams said.
He said over the last 10 years, the 1/2-cent sales tax brought in $7.2 to $8.2 million per year.
“(With the drop to a 1/4-cent sales tax), we’ll get half that,” Williams said. “We received about $8.2 million last year, so we expect it to drop to around $4.1 million, $4.2 million.”
In its April 2 election campaign, 911 asked voters to allow the district to continue collecting the 1/2-cent tax to provide funds to deal with an increase in calls and to meet the need for continual upgrades.
Prop 9-1-1 was approved, with 15,301 votes (70.67 percent) in favor of keeping the sales tax at 1/2 cent to 6,350 votes (29.33 percent) against. A simple majority was needed for approval.
Wieland lobbied against the tax measure, arguing that 911 does not need the money and should keep its promise to cut the sales tax in half as the sunset had called for. In addition to campaigning against the April 2 tax measure, he included language in his amendment that would reverse any action taken that would keep 911’s sales tax at 1/2 cent.
Wieland inserted a similar amendment into 2018 legislation, but according to 911 leaders, the senator had cited an incorrect statute, so the amendment did not apply to the agency.
Williams said even though the 2019 legislation was signed by Gov. Mike Parson July 9, it happened after the April 2 election when voters approved Prop 9-1-1, so it was not in effect at the time of the vote.
On the other hand, the amendment also says, “If on the effective date of this section such tax is greater than one-quarter of one percent, the board shall lower the tax rate.”
Williams would not go so far as to say his agency will take the issue to court, but he did not rule out that possibility. “Nothing has been decided,” he said. “We’re reviewing the law and discussing our options. We will use whatever means necessary.”
Williams said the impending drop in sales tax funding means his agency will need to delay some of its plans to maintain and upgrade its communications system.
“It means we won’t be able to do all the upgrades we planned, just staying on the cutting edge of technology,” he said.
Nevertheless, Williams said he believes those plans will come about sooner or later.
“I’m not concerned because I feel we’re on the winning side,” he said.
Wieland did not return messages left by phone and email seeking comment for the story.