Scott County rejects sales tax

BENTON, Mo. -- A half-cent sales tax extension for law enforcement in Scott County was defeated Tuesday in an election that saw only 14.84 percent of the county's 25,085 registered voters cast ballots.

The vote was close and split largely along rural-urban and north-south lines. The tax extension was defeated 1,923 to 1,658, with most Sikeston-area precincts voting against the tax by large margins, according to unofficial vote totals.

The Scott County Commission had placed the tax extension on the ballot and lobbied for its passage as a way to for its passage as a way to continue funding county's law enforcement activities and prevent the need to transfer large sums from general revenue to law enforcement.

In 2000 voters overwhelmingly approved the tax its first time on the ballot with 3,443 votes in favor and 1,540 votes against. In that election the city of Sikeston provided meeting facilities for county officials to talk to voters about the tax at public meetings.

Next year the tax will expire, so commissioners asked voters to extend the tax -- which brings in about $1.6 million per year -- indefinitely.

Presiding Commissioner Jamie Burger pushed hard for the tax, but in the past few weeks strong opposition had begun to develop in Sikeston. Burger said Tuesday night he was disappointed the tax failed but was glad to see the vote was so close.

Making a case to vote against a tax is easier than making a case to vote for a tax, he said.

"A lot of people kept telling me it was going to be defeated three to one," Burger said. "I was pretty optimistic it was going to pass. But the voters have spoken, and that's what good about our system."

While many voters around the county said they voted against the tax because it did not have a sunset clause, Burger questioned that logic, saying, "I don't know how you sunset crime."

Commissioners had not come out with specific plans on how to spend the general revenue they said would be freed up by not being transferred to law enforcement. But commissioners had discussed possibilities of improving county roads and expanding and repairing county facilities.

The tax had split the county along its familiar north-south lines just a week prior to the vote, when the Sikeston City Council voted unanimously to pass a resolution stating its opposition to the sales tax. The move was somewhat surprising to Mayor Mike Marshall and city manager Doug Friend, who both said in the weeks preceding the vote that the city would take no official stance on the issue.

Burger was banking on support in the northern part of the county, where most of the feedback commissioners received indicated support. Northern precincts mostly voted for the tax, but not by the same wide margins that Sikeston precincts voted against it.

Sikeston's Barbara Hill voted no because she's opposed to excess taxation, while a woman who asked for anonymity voted no based on the north-south divide, citing Sikeston's desire to pass its own municipal half-cent tax to fund law enforcement.

"We need the taxes in Sikeston," she said. "Now it's all going north of us."

First District Commissioner Dennis Ziegenhorn was surprised by the Sikeston City Council's resolution, as well. He had been campaigning along with the other two commissioners, making the case for the tax and asking county voters to vote yes. When a large block of his constituency, the county's largest city, seemed to be in opposition to the extension, Ziegenhorn could only say the vote rests in the hands of voters.

In the county's most northern city, Scott City, Mayor Tim Porch expressed his public support for the measure.

Ziegenhorn said he thinks the lack of a sunset provision was a major reason for the defeat. He also said if the county asked for passage of a similar tax in the future county officials could establish clear communications with municipalities to hear their needs.

County officials also "weren't as clear as possible" on exactly what the tax money would be needed for.

Late media coverage may have affected the voting, Burger said, possibly causing more voters on both sides to go to the polls.

Burger said he's not sure yet how the county will seek to continue funding law enforcement after the defeat of the tax, or if the tax will show up in modified form on another ballot before it expires.

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182