Complex tax issues deserve yes votes in Cape, Jackson

On April 5, voters in the cities of Cape Girardeau and Jackson will be asked to approve a use tax and extend a vehicle administrative fee.

There is a long, complicated past that has led to these ballot issues, complications due to statewide lawsuits that had nothing to do with either city.

We have covered most of these issues in our stories about the use tax proposals over the past few years. Several entities, including Cape Girardeau County, have already passed a use tax. The vehicle administrative fee is a new proposal, sort of, but it was suggested to the city by the Missouri Municipal League as a legal protection due to the aforementioned long, complicated legal history that led to April's ballot issue.

So let's try to move past the complications and get right to what you need to know.

• The vehicle administration fee will allow Cape and Jackson to collect sales taxes on vehicles purchased out of state. This is the same tax people have been paying for years and years. This is not a new tax, but a continuation. And you don't pay it unless you cross the bridge to buy a car.
• The use tax is also a sales tax applied only to purchases made out of state and used here. It does not apply to purchases from Missouri retailers already subject to the state sales tax. The use tax applies primarily to businesses that buy things out of state; if you're not currently paying a Missouri use tax (which has existed for years and years), you will not have to pay the city use tax.
• A use tax and sales tax are never applied on top of each other on the same purchase.
• The Cape Girardeau use tax would be established at 2.75 percent, the same rate as the city's sales tax. The taxes would produce about $1.2 million annually.
• The Jackson use tax would be established at 2 percent, and the measures would generate between $200,000 and $300,000 annually.

Our position

There are several reasons to support this tax. First, it provides protection to our car dealerships in Cape Girardeau and Jackson; those dealerships would be placed at a competitive disadvantage without the administrative fee. If consumers can buy a car to save several hundred dollars to avoid a tax, they will probably do so. To remain competitive, car dealers would have to cut into the profit of each car. Over time, that could lead to an exodus of dealerships and the economic benefit that goes with them.

Secondly, it will have a minimal affect on most people.

And lastly, both cities have good plans on how to spend the money. Jackson and Cape will put the tax dollars toward law enforcement officers. A yes vote means more patrols on the streets; seven new officers in Cape plus the retention of three officers being paid for by a grant and a public mental health professional working with police. In Jackson, the plan is to add two to three more patrol officers and an additional school resource officer for the school district.

In Cape, money will also be freed up to improve fields at Shawnee Park.

This is a good plan. These proposals will affect very few individuals. And they will help keep our streets and neighborhoods safer.

We recommend a yes vote for these initiatives in Cape Girardeau and Jackson.