644.034. Wastewater and water pollution abatement in certain counties (including Christian and Greene counties), amount--issue submitted to voters, ballot language--sales tax, special trust fund estab
Wastewater and water pollution abatement in certain counties(including Christian and Greene counties), amount--issue submittedto voters, ballot language--sales tax, special trust fundestablished, purpose.
644.034. 1. To promote tourism by maintaining the quality of the watersof the state, the governing body of any county containing part of a Corp ofEngineers lake, any county of the third classification without a township formof government with at least thirty-two thousand but not more than thirty-fivethousand inhabitants or any county of the first classification without acharter form of government with a population of at least two hundred thousandinhabitants may impose, by ordinance or order, a sales tax in the amount of upto one-fourth of one percent on all retail sales made in such county which aresubject to taxation pursuant to the provisions of sections 144.010 to 144.525,RSMo, for the purpose of providing improved treatment of wastewater and waterpollution abatement, including establishment of new wastewater treatmentfacilities or expansion or other improvements to existing wastewater treatmentfacilities, and the governing body of any county, in conjunction with theimposition of any sales tax pursuant to this subsection, may have the optionto issue bonds to preliminarily* fund the provision of improved treatment ofwastewater and water pollution abatement as specified in this subsection. Thetax authorized by this section shall be in addition to any and all other salestaxes allowed by law; except that, no ordinance or order imposing a sales taxpursuant to the provisions of this section shall be effective unless thegoverning body of the county submits to the voters of the county, at a countyor state general, primary or special election, a proposal to authorize thegoverning body of the county to impose a tax. In addition, a county shallonly be authorized to issue bonds in conjunction with any sales tax imposedpursuant to this section after the governing body of the county submits to thevoters of the county, at a county or state general, primary or specialelection, a proposal to authorize the governing body of the county to issuebonds. Any sales tax imposed pursuant to this section shall not be authorizedfor a period of more than five years; provided that, if sales tax is imposedpursuant to this section in conjunction with the issuance of bonds, the salestax shall expire upon full repayment of all bonds issued.
2. The ballot of submission shall contain, but need not be limited to,the following language:
(1) If the proposal submitted involves only authorization to impose thetax authorized by this section the ballot shall contain substantially thefollowing:
Shall the county of .............. (county's name) impose a countywidesales tax of ............. (insert amount) for the purpose of providingimproved treatment of wastewater and water pollution abatement, includingestablishment of new wastewater treatment facilities or expansion or otherimprovements to existing wastewater treatment facilities in the county?
â ã YES â ã NO If you are in favor of the question, place an "X" in the box opposite "Yes".If you are opposed to the question, place an "X" in the box opposite "No"; or
(2) If the proposal submitted involves authorization to impose the taxauthorized by this section, authorization to issue bonds to preliminarily fundthe provision of improved treatment of wastewater and water pollutionabatement as specified in subsection 1 of this section, obligates the countyto repay all bonds issued from the proceeds of the tax authorized by thissection and requires the expiration of the tax upon the repayment of all suchbonds, the ballot shall contain substantially the following:
Shall the county of .............. (county's name) impose a countywidesales tax of ............. (insert amount) for the purpose of providingimproved treatment of wastewater and water pollution abatement, includingestablishment of new wastewater treatment facilities or expansion or otherimprovements to existing wastewater treatment facilities in the county, issuebonds to preliminarily fund the provision of improved treatment of wastewaterand water pollution abatement, repay all bonds issued from the proceeds of thetax imposed and terminate such tax upon the repayment of all such bonds?
â ã YES â ã NO If you are in favor of the question, place an "X" in the box opposite "Yes".If you are opposed to the question, place an "X" in the box opposite "No". If a majority of the votes cast on the proposal by the qualified votersvoting thereon are in favor of the proposal submitted pursuant to subdivision(1) of this subsection, then the ordinance or order and any amendments theretoshall be in effect on the first day of the second quarter immediatelyfollowing the election approving the proposal. If the constitutionallyrequired percentage of the voters voting thereon are in favor of the proposalsubmitted pursuant to subdivision (2) of this subsection, then the ordinanceor order and any amendments thereto shall be in effect on the first day of thesecond quarter immediately following the election approving the proposal. Ifa proposal receives less than the required majority, then the governing bodyof the county shall have no power to impose the sales tax herein authorizedunless and until the governing body of the county shall again have submittedanother proposal to authorize the governing body of the county to impose thesales tax authorized by this section and such proposal is approved by therequired majority of the qualified voters voting thereon. However, in noevent shall a proposal pursuant to this section be submitted to the voterssooner than twelve months from the date of the last proposal pursuant to thissection.
3. All revenue received by a county from the tax authorized pursuant tothe provisions of this section shall be deposited in a special trust fund andshall be used solely for the purposes specified in the proposal submittedpursuant to subsection 2 of this section within such county for so long as thetax shall remain in effect.
4. Once the tax authorized by this section is abolished or is terminatedby any means, all funds remaining in the special trust fund shall be usedsolely for the purposes specified in the proposal submitted pursuant tosubsection 2 of this section within such county. Any funds in such specialtrust fund which are not needed for current expenditures may be invested bythe governing body in accordance with applicable laws relating to theinvestment of other county funds.
5. All sales taxes collected by the director of revenue under thissection on behalf of any county, less one percent for cost of collection whichshall be deposited in the state's general revenue fund after payment ofpremiums for surety bonds as provided in section 32.087, RSMo, shall bedeposited in a special trust fund, which is hereby created, to be known as the"Local Wastewater Treatment Sales Tax Trust Fund". The moneys in the localwastewater treatment sales tax trust fund shall not be deemed to be statefunds and shall not be commingled with any funds of the state. The directorof revenue shall keep accurate records of the amount of money in the trust andwhich was collected in each county imposing a sales tax pursuant to thissection, and the records shall be open to the inspection of officers of thecounty and the public. Not later than the tenth day of each month thedirector of revenue shall distribute all moneys deposited in the trust fundduring the preceding month to the county which levied the tax; such fundsshall be deposited with the county treasurer of each such county, and allexpenditures of funds arising from the local wastewater treatment sales taxtrust fund shall be by an appropriation act to be enacted by the governingbody of each such county. Expenditures may be made from the fund for anypurposes authorized pursuant to subsection 2 of this section in the ordinanceor order adopted by the governing body submitting the local wastewatertreatment tax to the voters.
6. The director of revenue may authorize the state treasurer to makerefunds from the amounts in the trust fund and credited to any county forerroneous payments and overpayments made, and may redeem dishonored checks anddrafts deposited to the credit of such counties. If any county abolishes thetax, the county shall notify the director of revenue of the action at leastninety days prior to the effective date of the repeal and the director ofrevenue may order retention in the trust fund, for a period of one year, oftwo percent of the amount collected after receipt of such notice to coverpossible refunds or overpayment of the tax and to redeem dishonored checks anddrafts deposited to the credit of such accounts. After one year has elapsedafter the effective date of abolition of the tax in such county, the directorof revenue shall remit the balance in the account to the county and close theaccount of that county. The director of revenue shall notify each county ofeach instance of any amount refunded or any check redeemed from receipts duethe county.
7. Except as modified in this section, all provisions of sections 32.085and 32.087, RSMo, shall apply to the tax imposed pursuant to this section.
8. All provisions of chapter 108, RSMo, shall apply to any bonds issuedpursuant to this section.
9. For purposes of this section, the term "wastewater** treatment andwater pollution abatement" is limited to the following:
(1) Establishment of new wastewater treatment facilities or expansion orother improvement to existing wastewater treatment facilities;
(2) Elimination or reduction of the release of water pollutantsaffecting waters of the state located in the county; and
(3) Use of funds as matching funds for grants or loans from the cleanwater commission pursuant to this chapter.
(L. 1999 H.B. 139 § 5)Effective 7-13-99
*Word "preliminary" appears in original rolls.
**Word "waterwater" appears in original rolls.