Chaffee, Benton voters to decide use-tax measures

Voters in the cities of Chaffee and Benton, Missouri, will decide April 3 if use taxes will be charged on out-of-state purchases and internet sales.

Each ballot measure needs a simple majority to pass.

The use tax would be levied at the same rate as the city sales tax, Chaffee and Benton officials said.

In Chaffee, the rate would be 1.75 percent and in Benton, 1 percent.

�It�s not really a new tax,� Chaffee city administrator Lee Horton said.

He said the use tax rate is equal to the local sales tax rate.

City officials have estimated the use tax would generate an added $12,000-plus for Chaffee city government based on projections available from the Missouri Department of Revenue, which handles sales tax collections.

The Chaffee Chamber of Commerce, which is backing the ballot measure, said the exact amount is uncertain. According to the chamber-financed campaign website, �it is unknown what sales have been generated on the internet and the impact of future sales.�

The website states, �Tax revenues leave town when our citizens buy big-ticket items like cars and trucks out of state.�

As a result of a change in the interpretation of state law, a resident or business pays no city sales tax in the purchase of vehicles out of state.

�These are tax dollars that are needed by Chaffee for police and fire protection, repair of our streets and maintenance of our sewers,� the campaign website states.

Horton said the measure also supports local businesses in the city of about 3,000.

�We are trying to level the playing field for local businesses,� Horton said. Those businesses have to charge the sales tax, but internet businesses such as Amazon don�t have to charge the local sales tax on purchases, he said.

Horton said passage of a use tax would allow the city to collect sales tax from items purchased by city residents and businesses from out of state sellers and internet-based companies.

Down the road in Benton, Mayor Jim Simmons said his city of fewer than 1,000 people would benefit from a use tax.

Like Chaffee, Simmons said his city too is �missing out on tax revenue.�

The use tax could generate for Benton as much as $3,900 from Amazon customers alone, according to Simmons.

He said, �No one wants to be taxed.�

But he added local businesses, which pay a city sales tax, should not be put at a competitive disadvantage.

Simmons said he and his family �buy online all the time� and should be required to pay a use tax to the city.

�To me, it is something that is fair,� he said.

The mayor said his city could use the tax revenue to help fund municipal services.

�It is growing,� he said of Benton. �We provide water, sewer and good roads,� he added.

Both use-tax measures contain ballot language stating �a use tax return shall not be required to be filed by persons whose purchases from out-of-state vendors do not exceed $2,000 in any calendar year.�

Horton and Simmons said that provision comes from state law, which is why it is stated on the ballot.

But both officials said they don�t expect residents in their cities will fill out such forms. They predicted the only added revenue their cities would receive would come from businesses that charge the use tax.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

Pertinent address:

Chaffee, Mo.

Benton, Mo.