Scott City Council votes to place use tax on April ballots

Scott City voters will see the use tax on ballots once again.

This week, Scott City Council members unanimously voted to place the measure on ballots again in a special election April 5.

April's election will be the second attempt to pass a use tax in Scott City, according to city and council officials.

Voters in Scott City denied a use tax last month. It failed by a margin of 24 votes, with 53.31% of the election's total 362 votes opposing the tax.

Council member Heather Ingvalson said she sees the tax failing by so few votes in November as a good sign it may pass next year.

"We're optimistic from that small margin in the last election," Ingvalson said. "The more education City Council gives, maybe we can tip the scale."

Scott City voters saw two taxes on November ballots -- the use tax and a countywide quarter-cent tax increase to provide central dispatching of emergency services.

Ingvalson said a countywide tax placed next to the use tax may have caused some confusion and lowered the use tax's chances.

According to Mayor Norman Brant, a use tax may raise an estimated $200,000 a year for Scott City.

Funds generated from the use tax would be applied to city employee wages and road improvements.

"Right now, our budget is pretty tight," Ingvalson said. "We tried to increase [wages] as much as we could last budget year, but we realized our city employee incomes were not where we'd like them to be, especially with increased cost of living everyone's facing."

Use tax basics

• A use tax is a local tax on goods purchased from out of state for use and delivery in Scott City.
• If passed, the tax would levy Scott City's 1.75% sales tax on online sales.
• The tax will always be the same as the local sales tax.