The League of Women Voters of Missouri has joined the likes of Gov. Jay Nixon in opposing a transportation sales tax headed to voters next month. Meanwhile, the Associated Industries of Missouri voiced its support, joining with the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The proposed 10-year 3/4-cent sales and use tax, up for vote in the Aug. 5 primary election, would directly shore up funding for the Missouri Department of Transportation's faltering budget. The measure is designed to provide some $500 million annually for the transportation department. Without the tax, by 2017, it's estimated MoDOT's funding would drop to $325 million, according to
Springfield Business Journal archives.
Opponents fear the initiative would hurt working families and seniors by increasing taxes while giving the heaviest users of roads in Missouri a less burdensome share.
"This tax would fall most heavily on those least able to afford it," said League of Women Voters of Missouri President Elaine Blodgett, of Columbia, in the release.
Her remarks echoed Nixon, who has said the roughly $6 billion sales tax increase is unfair.
In a statement released this week, AIM said its support for the tax comes down to needed improvements on roads, bridges and other transportation projects in Missouri.
"Our manufacturers and other businesses need a rich and robust transportation system to keep products moving, and to keep Missouri's economy growing," AIM President Ray McCarty said in a news release. "Current funding trends point to the fact that something must be done to protect Missouri's status as the transportation hub of the country.
"The idea of a general sales tax is an idea that has been vetted thoroughly over many years and is the most promising funding source for transportation in Missouri over the next 10 years."
In early June, Secretary of State Jason Kander's office certified the proposal's ballot language to appear in the Aug. 5 election. It reads:
"Should the Missouri Constitution be changed to enact a temporary sales tax of three-quarters of one percent to be used solely to fund state and local highways, roads, bridges and transportation projects for 10 years, with priority given to repairing unsafe roads and bridges?
"This change is expected to produce $480 million annually to the state’s Transportation Safety and Job Creation Fund and $54 million for local governments. Increases in the gas tax will be prohibited. This revenue shall only be used for transportation purposes and cannot be diverted for other uses."[[In-content Ad]]
