Wednesday, March 14, 2012
A proposal by Rep. Mike Leara "won't happen this year," he said.
State Rep. Mike Leara (R-St. Louis County) told a group at a Fenton Area Chamber of Commerce legislative update meeting that a bill he sponsored to rework St. Louis County's sales tax distribution system is "stalled in the House" and is not expected to be approved this year. Leara's bill would correct the inequities that some see in the way sales taxes are distributed to St. Louis County and to other municipalities in St. Louis County. Fenton Mayor Dennis Hancock has been a big proponent of changing the current method, which he says costs Fenton about $4 million in revenue each year that is sent to a sales tax pool that is split among St. Louis County and other municipalities. Under the current system, originated in 1993, municipalities …
Friday, May 20, 2011
Paul Seemayer asks other municipalities to be open-minded about new options to the sales tax distribution system used in St. Louis County. A plan to change the system did not make it to a vote in the just-ended session of the Missouri General Assembly.
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Friday, May 20, 2011
To the editor: I am not surprised nor upset about this decision [to change the St.Louis County sales tax redistribution system]. There have been many comments and conversations on this issue. At the heart of it is, repealing this bill will cause destabilization within our communities. I understand that, but the fact is that this bill was designed to "share" sales taxes with other communities because residents of other communities shop everywhere. Well that is true, but the fact is that 90 percent of the sales taxes generated in Fenton come from Jefferson County. We have lost a lot when Chrysler shuttered its plants and sent the work to Canada and Mexico. There were many people who live in Fenton that worked for the Chrysler Plant or …
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Wildwood joins Webster Groves, University City and St. Louis County in hiring a lobbying firm to monitor the proposed changes to the sales tax distribution system.
"Sausage making looks like a clean operation, compared to the daily, and sometimes hourly, versions of legislative amendments in Jefferson City related to proposed changes to St. Louis County's pooled sales tax system," said Wildwood Mayor Tim Woerther at last week's city council meeting. What's at stake for Wildwood residents is 45 percent of the city's general revenues each year, or approximately $2.1 million annually, that comes from how county sales tax proceeds are distributed. Legislation currently in the Missouri House of Representatives, House Bill 534, would change the way sales taxes are distributed. Some St. Louis County cities, Fenton and Chesterfield in particular, support HB534 that would allow them to keep the sales tax …
Monday, March 21, 2011
St. Louis County cities have differing views on tax sharing pool and whether the current system is fair or necessary.
Some municipal leaders call it socialism. Others consider it the saving grace of their communities. But whatever it is, sales tax revenue sharing in St. Louis County could be poised to undergo a major change. A bill introduced recently in the Missouri House of Representatives would alter the decades-long system of taking sales taxes collected in each municipality within St. Louis County and putting it into a pool to be shared by the municipalities. Under the current system, originated in 1993, municipalities are divided into two camps--point-of-sale, or “A” cities; and pool, or “B” cities. Under the system, the wealthiest “A” cities are required to share a portion of their 1-cent countywide sales tax revenues with both the “B” cities and …
Not Your Money
3:26 pm on Sunday, May 1, 2011
Change your attitude about having retail in the city or raise the property tax to offset the difference. Wildwood sounds like Town & Country, don't want the retail to raise funds, would rather suck on the efforts of others for their money. more ›