HCS HB 488 -- TOURISM TAXES

SPONSOR:  Overschmidt (Koller)

COMMITTEE ACTION:  Voted "do pass" by the Committee on Tourism,
Recreational and Cultural Affairs by a vote of 18 to 0.

This substitute authorizes a tourism sales tax in certain lake
counties and the establishment of tourism community enhancement
districts.

TOURISM TAX IN CERTAIN COUNTIES

The substitute allows the governing bodies of counties
containing at least 700 miles and not more than 900 miles of
shoreline of a Corps of Engineers lake to order an election for
a sales tax, not to exceed 1.5%, for economic development within
the approving county.  The following counties will be affected:
Taney, Stone, Barry, and Ozark.

The revenue from the tax will be placed in a special trust
fund.  The governing body of the county will administer the
moneys in the fund in the following manner:  one-third of the
yearly revenue collected will be for tourism, one-third for
water quality, and one-third for infrastructure.

The substitute provides for the Department of Revenue to collect
and distribute the retail sales tax to the appropriate county
treasurer.  All expenditures from the fund will be by
appropriation enacted by the governing body of the county.
Various programs are described for which money in the fund may
be spent.

The substitute contains a mechanism to repeal the sales tax if
at least 20% of voters of the county submit a proposal to repeal
the tax and it is approved by a majority of the voters of the
county.

TOURISM COMMUNITY ENHANCEMENT DISTRICTS

The substitute also allows any county, city, town, or village
with a population of less than 100,000 inhabitants to establish
a tourism community enhancement district.  The district will be
a body corporate and politic of the state and may impose a sales
tax of up to 1%.

To establish a tourism community enhancement district, a
petition setting forth the boundaries, the maximum proposed
sales tax, and signatures containing at least 2% of the
registered voters of a county, city, town, or village within the
proposed district must be filed with the clerk of the county,
city, town, or village that includes a majority of the area
within the proposed district.  If the governing body, following
a hearing, decides to establish the proposed district, it must
adopt an order or ordinance.

Each tourism community enhancement district will have at least 5
directors.  The substitute spells out the terms, selection, and
duties of the directors and other officers.  The procedures for
submitting and implementing a tax proposal to residents of a
district are outlined in the substitute.

Expenditures from the tourism community enhancement district
sales tax will be as follows:

(1)  10% of any revenues will be used for education purposes;

(2)  10% will be used for senior citizen, youth, or community
enhancement purposes within the district;

(3)  75% will be used by the board of directors for marketing,
advertising, and promotion of tourism;

(4)  2% will be distributed among each destination marketing
organization located within each school district in the district
based upon the amount of sales tax collected within each school
district;

(5)  2% will be transmitted to the not-for-profit organization
conducting and administering the marketing plan within the
district; and

(6)  1% will be for the collection of the tax (Department of
Revenue).

The substitute also contains procedural provisions for the
expansion of a district and board and for the dissolution of a
tax or district.

FISCAL NOTE:  Estimated Net Cost to General Revenue Fund of
$135,647 to Unknown in FY 2002, $89,162 to Unknown in FY 2003,
and $91,424 to Unknown in FY 2004.

PROPONENTS:  Supporters say that the legislation helps local
areas do for themselves what the state cannot do.  The bill will
also address other very important needs of lake areas including
water quality and infrastructure.

Testifying for the bill were Representative Koller; Branson Lake
Area Chamber of Commerce; Stone Hill Wineries; Missouri Grape
and Wine Program; Silver Dollar City Properties; Stone County
Commission; and Table Rock Lake Association.

OPPONENTS:  There was no opposition voiced to the committee.

Robert Triplett, Legislative Analyst

Missouri House of Representatives
Last Updated November 26, 2001 at 11:44 am