321.246. Fire protection districts, sales tax authorized for districts within certain counties and cities--ballot contents--trust fund--collection by director of revenue--refunds.
Fire protection districts, sales tax authorized for districts withincertain counties and cities--ballot contents--trust fund--collectionby director of revenue--refunds.
321.246. 1. The governing body of any fire protection district whichoperates within both a county of the first classification with a charterform of government and with a population greater than six hundred thousandbut less than nine hundred thousand and a county of the fourthclassification with a population greater than thirty thousand but less thanthirty-five thousand and that adjoins a county of the first classificationwith a charter form of government, or the governing body of any fireprotection district which contains a city of the fourth classificationhaving a population greater than two thousand four hundred when the city islocated in a county of the first classification without a charter form ofgovernment having a population greater than one hundred fifty thousand andthe county contains a portion of a city with a population greater thanthree hundred fifty thousand may impose a sales tax in an amount of up toone-half of one percent on all retail sales made in such fire protectiondistrict which are subject to taxation pursuant to the provisions ofsections 144.010 to 144.525, RSMo. The tax authorized by this sectionshall be in addition to any and all other sales taxes allowed by law,except that no sales tax imposed pursuant to the provisions of this sectionshall be effective unless the governing body of the fire protectiondistrict submits to the voters of the fire protection district, at a countyor state general, primary or special election, a proposal to authorize thegoverning body of the fire protection district to impose a tax.
2. The ballot of submission shall contain, but need not be limitedto, the following language:
Shall the fire protection district of .................. (district'sname) impose a district-wide sales tax of ............. for the purpose ofproviding revenues for the operation of the fire protection district?
â ã YES â ã NO
If a majority of the votes cast on the proposal by the qualified votersvoting thereon are in favor of the proposal, then the sales tax authorizedin this section shall be in effect. If a majority of the votes cast by thequalified voters voting are opposed to the proposal, then the governingbody of the fire protection district shall not impose the sales taxauthorized in this section unless and until the governing body of the fireprotection district resubmits a proposal to authorize the governing body ofthe fire protection district to impose the sales tax authorized by thissection and such proposal is approved by a majority of the qualified votersvoting thereon.
3. All revenue received by a fire protection district from the taxauthorized pursuant to the provisions of this section shall be deposited ina special trust fund and shall be used solely for the operation of the fireprotection district.
4. All sales taxes collected by the director of revenue pursuant tothis section on behalf of any fire protection district, less one percentfor cost of collection which shall be deposited in the state's generalrevenue fund after payment of premiums for surety bonds as provided insection 32.087, RSMo, shall be deposited in the fire protection districtsales tax trust fund established pursuant to section 321.242. The moneysin the fire protection district sales tax trust fund shall not be deemed tobe state funds and shall not be commingled with any funds of the state.The director of revenue shall keep accurate records of the amount of moneyin the trust and which was collected in each fire protection districtimposing a sales tax pursuant to this section, and the records shall beopen to the inspection of officers of the fire protection district and thepublic. Not later than the tenth day of each month, the director ofrevenue shall distribute all moneys deposited in the trust fund during thepreceding month to the fire protection district which levied the tax. Suchfunds shall be deposited with the treasurer of each such fire protectiondistrict, and all expenditures of funds arising from the fire protectiondistrict sales tax trust fund shall be for the operation of the fireprotection district and for no other purpose.
5. The director of revenue may authorize the state treasurer to makerefunds from the amounts in the trust fund and credited to any fireprotection district for erroneous payments and overpayments made and mayredeem dishonored checks and drafts deposited to the credit of such fireprotection districts. If any fire protection district abolishes the tax,the fire protection district shall notify the director of revenue of theaction at least ninety days prior to the effective date of the repeal andthe director of revenue may order retention in the trust fund, for a periodof one year, of two percent of the amount collected after receipt of suchnotice to cover possible refunds or overpayment of the tax and to redeemdishonored checks and drafts deposited to the credit of such accounts.After one year has elapsed after the effective date of abolition of the taxin such fire protection district, the director of revenue shall remit thebalance in the account to the fire protection district and close theaccount of that fire protection district. The director of revenue shallnotify each fire protection district of each instance of any amountrefunded or any check redeemed from receipts due the fire protectiondistrict. In the event a tax within a fire protection district is approvedunder this section, and such fire protection district is dissolved, the taxshall lapse on the date that the fire protection district is dissolved andthe proceeds from the last collection of such tax shall be distributed tothe governing bodies of the counties formerly containing the fireprotection district and the proceeds of the tax shall be used for fireprotection services within such counties.
6. Except as modified in this section, all provisions of sections32.085 and 32.087, RSMo, shall apply to the tax imposed pursuant to thissection.
(L. 1997 S.B. 21)Effective 7-7-97