Jackson town hall pushes internet sales tax

In a room bedecked with "Yes on Jackson" signs and balloons, a town hall meeting was held to promote the city's use, or internet sales tax initiative Thursday evening.

Two dozen attendees came to the event at the new Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce building at 1846 E. Jackson Blvd. with 20 more joining the event via Facebook Live.

Mayor Dwain Hahs and the chamber's executive director Brian Gerau took turns advocating for the 2.5% tax, which -- if approved by referendum Nov. 2 -- will go entirely to enhance the city's parks and recreational facilities.

Among the possible expenditures Hahs said the use tax might fund include the paving of parking lots, lights on soccer and baseball fields and extending the trail 1.5 miles from Jackson High School to the soccer park.

"With better and newer facilities, we can draw in sports tournaments, which will be a boon to our hotels and restaurants -- it'll be a win-win for everybody," said Gerau.

Jackson officials have tried on three previous occasions since 2014 to pass a use tax, failing each time -- with the closest margin of defeat, 82 votes, coming in the most recent attempt in 2019.

"We didn't clearly say what we needed the money for in those other elections," said Hahs, mayor since 2015, who added the request to voters is not for a double tax.

"The tax on internet, or online, sales will be same as what people pay already when they buy something from a bricks-and-mortar store."

Gerau, noting the 12.5% growth in Jackson's population in the last Census Bureau report, from 13,758 in 2010 to 15,481 last year, said "we want to make sure our amenities will grow as our population does."

Hahs said if the plebiscite is successful, citizen input will be solicited and the city's parks board will set priorities for how to spend the tax revenue realized.

The use tax should generate an estimated $500,000 annually, he said.

People listen to Jackson Mayor Dwain Hahs and executive director of Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce Brian Gerau speak during Thursday's town hall meeting about the proposed online sales levy on at the Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce's new office. Members of the public were invited to come in person and online through various live streams to hear the two plead the municipality's case and answer questions.Sarah Yenesel

"We arrived at that number by looking at the $3 million Cape Girardeau County will realize this year from its use tax and since we are 18% of the county's population, we did the calculation and came up with the rough figure," he said.

The mayor said additional parks department staffing is also a possibility if the tax passes.

"We have five full-time folks in parks and Cape Girardeau has about 50," Hahs said.

Gerau and Hahs said they are available to speak to any group about the use tax if invited and directed interested residents to visit the "Yes on Jackson" Facebook page.

Hahs said he thinks it will take "1,000 to 1,200" votes to get the use tax approved 25 days from now.