Sales Tax Increase on November Ballot in Ozark County

Commissioners in Ozark County voted last week to put a half-cent sales tax for law enforcement on the November 8 general election ballot.

According to the Ozark County Times, Sheriff Cass Martin has had to make tough decisions to stay on budget, including laying off seven employees and cutting back patrols. Unforeseen circumstances such as increasing fuel costs and record inflation has led to the department’s current budget crisis.

Presiding Commissioner John Turner commented “in his eight years in office, he had never asked for a new tax, but he will let the people decide if they want to fund law enforcement in Ozark County or not.”

The current half-cent sales tax collects a little more that $400,000 a year. Ozark County Clerk Brian Wise states that wasn’t anywhere near enough to fund the office, although it does receive revenue from law enforcement contracts with Gainesville and Theodosia.

The department does not receive any money from property taxes, and the only other revenue source is prisoner reimbursement from the state, which has been $22 per day, per prisoner, for nearly a decade. Turner said “the state pays when they want and often they don’t pay, we can’t count on it.

Last month, the sheriff posted on social media that his department would be cutting patrols and minor and non-violent crimes would have to be handled over the phone or residents would have to come into the sheriff’s office to file a report. The department had to reduce its workforce by 30%, which resulted in seven layoffs, including two full-time deputies.

Martin, who is in his first term as sheriff, says he has been doing everything in his power to cut costs while still providing good law enforcement for Ozark County and that there was no way to see the budget crisis coming.

Currently, Ozark County collects local sales tax totaling 2.5 cents per dollar spent. 1 cent goes to general revenue, half a cent to road and bridge (split between east and west), half a cent to law enforcement, and half a cent to Ozark County Ambulance, which operates autonomously outside the county budget. If the sales tax increase is approved by voters, it would give the department 1 full cent per dollar for a total local sales tax of 3 cents. Currently, Ozark County, along with Wise County, has a lower minimum sales tax rate than 81 percent of Missouri counties.

(From KTLO)