(The Center Square) – Missouri voters were mostly favorable of new and renewed sales taxes when they cast their ballots on Tuesday.
Voters in Clay County approved a $1 monthly fee to be included on cell phones to fund 911 operations in Kansas City’s Northland. Proposition A was approved by approximately 61% of voters. The measure also removes the current 911 fee on landline phone service.
Kansas City voters overwhelmingly approved one tax and soundly defeated another. Voters were asked to continue a city sales tax for developing, operating, maintaining and equipping a public bus transit system for the city. The increase was 3/8% and expires after 10 years. Unofficial results showed 73% of voters approved the increase with a turnout of approximately 33,000.
“Thank you once again to the people of Kansas City,” Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “Your votes to support transit have helped support another decade of investment in mobility and connection for all in our community. We appreciate your trust and will continue our work to build the best system in America.”
More than 59% of Jackson County voters halted a proposed tax on online purchases from businesses outside Missouri. The proposal would have added a use tax of 1.38%. Jackson County intended to use the revenue for financing road and bridge construction projects, financial assistance to homeless persons and persons at risk of becoming homeless, and for renovations and repairs to the Jackson County Courthouse in downtown Kansas City and the Truman Courthouse in Independence.
Two counties in the St. Louis region overwhelmingly approved a sales tax on recreational marijuana. In the city of St. John, a suburb of St. Louis, 66% of voters approved a 3% sales tax on all retail sales of recreational marijuana sold in the city, according to unofficial results. In St. Charles, 74% of voters approved a 3% sales tax on recreational marijuana.
In southwest Missouri, voters approved a 3% sales tax on recreational marijuana in Branson West, Eldon, Marionville, Marshfield and Seymour, according to ozarksfirst.com. Branson voters renewed a 1% sales tax and Branson West voters approved a .5% city use tax for public safety.
A measure to annex a two-square-mile area of unincorporated St. Louis County into the city of Manchester was defeated. More than 79% of Manchester voters approved the measure but more than 78% of voters in the unincorporated area were against the initiative. A simple majority was required in both areas for the annexation to take place.
“This is a landslide vote of confidence for the St. Louis County Police Department. Unincorporated residents get great services and enjoy low taxes,” St. Louis County Executive Sam Page told KSDK reporter Mark Maxwell.
