Commission adds use tax to April ballot

Nevada Daily Mail

The Vernon County Commission approved placing a use tax on the April election ballot in a meeting Jan. 25. The use tax is different from the traditional sales tax, as it is not placed on items bought in the county.

When a Missouri resident purchases an item from out of state, Missouri does not benefit from the sales tax it would normally receive. The use tax replaces of that lost sales tax.

The ballot item the commission approved would place the use tax on land and marine vehicles such as cars, boats and trailers purchased outside of Vernon County. Without the tax, people from Missouri who crossed into Kansas, for example, to purchase a vehicle would not be charged the normal state sales tax and the county would lose that revenue.

In the past, Vernon County did not have the tax and lost revenue as a result. But northern commissioner Neal Gerster said the state stepped in and provided it. However, by November 2016, the state will no longer provide that for the county. To keep it, the county would need to vote"no on the April ballot, expressing their desire that the state not discontinue the tax.

"It's very hard to explain it to people because they think they're going to be paying more tax," county treasurer and collector Phil Couch said at a previous meeting with the county commission. In fact, the tax is already in place and would result in lost revenue if it is not kept in place.

The county tried to pass the use tax in 2012 but it failed by a small margin. At that time, it was estimated that it would bring about $57,000 more in sales related taxes to Vernon County.

Presiding commissioner Joe Hardin said about half the Missouri counties have the tax in place, including counties near Vernon County. Bates County for example received more than $366,000 through the tax in 2014.

"We're just missing out on that because we don't have the use tax," Gerster said.

Hardin says he believes without the tax, the county will miss out on the financial as well as economic

benefits, as the tax would encourage people to shop within their own county, supporting local businesses instead of those outside the county or state.

"It would put our local dealerships at a disadvantage," Hardin said if the tax is not approved in April, fewer people will purchase from local dealers as they leave the state to avoid the sales tax.

Hardin said that the use tax passes, the county would then try to pass a general use tax in the future, which would cover other items purchased outside of the county as well.