Jackson use-tax voted down for third time

For the third time — and by a slim margin of 82 votes — Jackson residents voted down the addition of a use-tax measure Tuesday, which would have enacted a 2.5% tax to out-of-state purchases.

The measure was rejected by 53% of voters.

The tax would have applied to purchases made outside of — and brought into — the state, including online sales.

Jackson Mayor Dwain Hahs said Tuesday he is “certainly disappointed” in the results.

“I think this measure was important, and I saw it as kind of the financial security of the city going forward, within five to 10 years,” Hahs said. “But what we’ll do is just prioritize based on the revenue that we do have coming in from sales tax and our other sources.”

Hahs plans to view available sales tax revenue currently in place and “see what we can do to maximize the local sales tax revenues that we have.”

“Those are certainly the drivers to our funding for our city,” he said.

And with voter turnout around 1,300, Hahs added he would have projected “a couple hundred more.”

In advance of the election, Hahs said nearly 65% of the city’s budget relies on sales tax revenue. He said the use tax would have generated around $600,000 to $750,000 annually.

Projects that would have been funded from the use-tax included start-up costs for a curbside recycling program — including the purchase of a truck to pick up the recycling — LED streetlights from Interstate 55 to the Walmart area on East Jackson Boulevard and construction of a new municipal swimming pool.

Hahs said prior to the election other local governments in Southeast Missouri are benefiting from use taxes, including Cape Girardeau, Bollinger and Perry counties, and the cities of Chaffee, Advance, Dexter, Perryville and Ste. Genevieve.

In a statement released Tuesday evening, Hahs said the issue of use tax “will continue to be significant as online shopping sales increase in coming years, and local sales tax revenue remains stagnant or even decreases.”

jhartwig@semissourian.com

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