SS SCS SB 323 & 230, HCA 1, 2 -- SALES TAXES

SPONSOR:  Childers (Koller)

COMMITTEE ACTION:  Voted "do pass" by the Committee on Tourism,
Recreation and Cultural Affairs by a vote of 17 to 0.

This substitute:

(1)  Adds the City of Cuba to those cities and counties
authorized to submit to their voters a hotel/motel tax of
between 2% and 5% for funding the promotion of tourism;

(2)  Allows St. Louis, Jefferson, Franklin, Warren, and Lincoln
counties as well as St. Louis City to impose a sales tax of up
to 0.25% for community services for children up to age 19.
Current law only allows St. Charles County to enact this sales
tax.  The moneys collected from this sales tax will be deposited
into the county's Community Children's Services Fund and
administered by the board of directors;

(3)  Allows St. Louis, Jefferson, Franklin, Warren, and Lincoln
counties to have the Community Mental Health Board of Trustees
oversee the Community Children's Services Fund, not a separate
board of directors;

(4)  Allows the governing bodies of Taney, Stone, Barry, and
Ozark counties or the governing body of any county which borders
on or which contains part of a lake with not less than 100 miles
of shoreline to order an election for a sales tax not to exceed
1.5% for economic development within the approving county.  The
revenue from the tax will be placed in a special trust fund.
The governing body of the county will administer the moneys in
the fund in the following manner:  one-third for tourism,
one-third for water quality, and one-third for infrastructure.
The Department of Revenue will collect and distribute the retail
sales tax to the appropriate county treasurer.  All expenditures
from the fund are by appropriation enacted by the governing body
of the county.  The substitute describes the various programs
that the money in the fund may be spent on.  The substitute also
provides for the repeal of the sales tax if at least 20% of
voters of the county submit a proposal to repeal the tax
followed by the whole county voting on the issue;

(5)  Allows the creation of tourism community enhancement
districts.  Any county containing at least 700 miles and not
more than 900 miles of shoreline of a Corps of Engineers lake or
any city, town, or village located in a county containing at
least 700 miles and not more than 900 miles of shoreline of a
Corps of Engineers lake is allowed to create a tourism community
enhancement district which may provide for a sales tax to fund
school districts, senior or community activities, and tourism
within the district.  The substitute provides for the collection
of the sales tax by the Department of Revenue at a cost of 1% of
the total sales tax collected for a district.  It also allows
the board to enter into an agreement with the county or city
clerk for the collection of the sales tax at a cost of 1% of the
total sales tax collected within the district; and

(6)  Authorizes the county commission of Buchanan County to put
to a countywide vote a sales tax for promotion of museums,
cultural tourism, festivals, and the arts.  The tax is in
addition to any tourism tax imposed by Buchanan County voters.
If the new tax is approved by the voters, the county commission
must appoint a 5-member board to administer and distribute the
funds.  Recipients of the sales tax funds must be IRS 501(c)(3)
corporations.  The tax will be collected by the Director of the
Department of Revenue.

HCA 1 -- Allows Platte County, upon voter approval, to levy a
fee on each short-term rental of motor vehicles.  All revenue
collected from the imposition of the fee will be used solely for
tourism.

HCA 2 -- Deletes the $1 minimum for sales upon which the
municipal tourism tax is collected (Branson).

FISCAL NOTE:  No impact on state funds.  Oversight assumes this
proposal is permissive, and tax provisions require voter
approval.

PROPONENTS:  Supporters say that additional revenue through
tourism-oriented initiatives is very important to local
economies and the entire state.

Testifying for the bill was Senator Childers.

OPPONENTS:  There was no opposition voiced to the committee.

Robert Triplett, Legislative Analyst

Missouri House of Representatives
Last Updated November 26, 2001 at 11:47 am