Group seeks to defeat local use-tax measures, repeal existing tax

An anti-tax group will campaign against passage of use-tax measures in Cape Girardeau and Jackson. The group, www.NoMOtax.org, also plans to gather voter signatures to seek repeal of the existing Cape Girardeau County use tax.

Debra Jenkins, who resides in the county, said Thursday local governments need to do a better job of spending revenue rather than seeking tax increases.

“It is a spending problem rather than a revenue problem,” she said.

Jenkins said the group, which held an organizational meeting Wednesday night, is the same one that successfully opposed three use-tax measures on the April 2014 ballot.

Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Cape Girardeau County all sought voter approval of a tax measure. Voters rejected all three measures by a wide margin.

In April 2015, voters narrowly approved a 1 percent use tax for Cape Girardeau County government to finance construction of new county offices in Jackson.

Jenkins said her group, which includes about 15 Cape Girardeau, Jackson and county residents, hopes to buy radio ads to oppose the April ballot measures.

The group also wants to collect enough signatures to put a measure to repeal the county use tax on the November ballot.

County Clerk Kara Clark Summers said under state statute, the group would have to collect the signatures of 5,305 registered voters, an amount equal to 15 percent of the number of voters who cast ballots in the 2012 gubernatorial election.

If the group collects enough signatures, the Cape Girardeau County Commission would have to put a repeal measure on the ballot, Summers said.

For the upcoming municipal elections April 5, Cape Girardeau and Jackson have two measures each on the ballot.

One would retain the existing sales tax on out-of-state vehicle purchases, while the other would enact a new use tax that would cover other out-of-state purchases.

Cape Girardeau and Jackson officials have said the tax measures would allow their cities to upgrade public safety, including hiring more police officers.

Cape Girardeau officials have said a new use tax would be paid largely by businesses that buy supplies out of state and already are paying state and county use taxes.

But Jenkins said the tax also would apply to residents who spend $2,000 or more on out-of-state purchases.

The voters don’t realize the use-tax measure puts them “at risk of breaking the law,” she said.

City officials have said the tax measures would provide a level playing field for businesses such as local car dealerships that otherwise might lose business to out-of-state companies. But Jenkins argued “it would only benefit certain businesses, leaving the rest to fend for themselves.”

She said the proposed ballot measures would lead to permanent taxes if approved by voters.

The Jackson Board of Aldermen and the Cape Girardeau City Council legally could spend the money on whatever projects or programs they desired, now and in the future, she said.

Jenkins said voters have approved a number of tax measures for local governments in recent years.

“I am tired of tax increases,” she said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641