Missouri dog tax an example of outdated laws still on books

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- This is the story of a tax uncollected, a law unremembered, a still-valid statute that, if set in motion after eight decades, could create money-losing work for elected officials.

It's the story of Missouri's dog tax.

This is also an example of how state law books grow each year by paragraphs and pages, with statutes enduring although their intent and effect may be as outdated as a Model T or a manual typewriter.

"It's just indicative of how things grow and grow in Jefferson City, where we have tax codes that are thicker than the Bible and even government itself can't keep track of everything that's on the books," said Secretary of State Matt Blunt.

This year alone, Gov. Bob Holden has signed nearly 200 new laws, a typical annual output for Missouri's governors and legislators.

Occasionally lawmakers will revisit an old law, making its language gender-neutral or updating numbers to reflect inflation.

But arcane laws remain, even as new laws are grafted onto their chapters.

Drafted in 1921

Case in point: Chapter 273 of the Missouri Revised Statutes. Or, as it is more memorably titled: "Dogs and Cats."

It first went on the books in 1921, sponsored by then-Sen. B.T. Gordon, a lawyer, farmer and Democrat from Clay County.

The law allows at least 100 "householders" in a county to petition the county court, forerunner of today's county commission. If the petitions were deemed valid, the court would schedule an election on imposing a $1-per-year license tax on each dog.

If voters impose the tax, the county assessor must do an annual head count of dogs for taxation purposes; the county clerk must distribute metallic dog tags with raised letters and numbers -- tags that must be provided by the secretary of state; the county treasurer must put the fees into a special fund and the county commissioners must meet annually to spend the money.

But before officials celebrate a potential dog tag windfall, they should know that a 1939 revision allows spending the revenue for just one purpose: reimbursing farmers whose chickens, sheep or other livestock were killed by dogs.

The county clerk is authorized to keep a dime of every $1 license fee to cover expenses.

"You mean I'm missing out on a dime for every dog running around out here?" Cole County Clerk Bill Deeken, president of the state association of county clerks, asked between guffaws.

'It's worthless'

Boone County Clerk Wendy Noren says the dime reimbursement shows the silliness of the dog tax law; she would lose more than a quarter for every tag mailed, based on current postage rates.

"Not to mention that the coon hunters would be up in arms if you tried to impose a dog tax," she said. "This is a law that just sits there and nobody uses it and it's worthless."

The law goes on to make failure to pay the dog tax a misdemeanor -- and says not receiving a county tax bill for one's dogs is no excuse for nonpayment.

Sam Leake, a farmer and former legislator who chairs the State Tax Commission, said he had never heard of the dog tax until a reporter called it to his attention.

"I suppose it dates to when everybody had chickens running around the yard and dogs having chicken snacks was a real problem," Leake said.

Home for other laws

It may be an old law, but in recent years its "Dogs and Cats" chapter has provided a home for additional statutes, such as kennel and puppy mill regulations cobbled onto the existing language.

The State Tax Commission has no record of the dog tax ever being imposed. The Missouri Association of Counties has no members collecting it, said executive director Dick Burke.

"It looks to me like an antiquated law that is merely still on the books but not adhered to," Burke said. "Common sense would say this law doesn't make sense anymore and it should probably be repealed, even though maybe it made a lot of sense in 1921. It makes you wonder what else is out there on the books."

Blunt, proud owner of a female collie named Lady Belle, said he was unaware of the duties that the dog tax, if enacted by even a single county, could impose on him:

"The secretary of state shall annually procure such number of metallic plates as may be required, of convenient size and shape, or design to be changed each year, and having cast thereon in raised letters, "S.L.T." and the figures indicating the year for which the tax has been paid."

Blunt's office has many divisions, but none devoted to dog tags. He cannot find any record that his predecessors ever issued dog tags, either.

So the secretary of state said he hopes to strike a symbolic blow for shrinking government by asking the 2003 legislature to repeal the dog tax.

"It's anti-canine," Blunt declared. "But it is still a valid statute, and it needs to go."