Sales tax collections are the lifeblood of many communities; they can also indicate which way the economic winds are blowing. Tuesday night at the Joplin city council meeting, we got an update on that community's tax collections, which yielded mixed results. KRPS's Fred Fletcher-Fierro has more.
Sales tax revenue in Joplin for this past November are up nearly 6%. For the first three months of the new fiscal year, the city is up 6%. These figures don't include much of the holiday buying season since the cutoff was Nov. 20.
Also, as of Jan. 1, cities in Missouri will no longer be able to opt out of two statewide sales tax holidays. One was centered around Back To School, the other was the Show Me Green program, allowing qualifying ENERGY STAR-certified appliances to be purchased tax-free. Previously Joplin did opt out, while neighboring communities such as Webb City did not.
The sales tax implications for Joplin are challenging to determine due to opt-out every year. Council member Josh DeTar summarized his reaction to a possible loss in tax dollars this way.
"Since I've been on this council, it comes down to three things, and it's always money, people, and technology. If we don't have the money, we can't get the people; we can use the technology to kind of offset those costs, but we're looking at the future of this city 10, 15, 20, 30 years from now."
The council Tuesday night voted 9-0 to put a 3% local sales tax on recreational marijuana to voters later this year. For 89 9 KRPS News, I'm Fred Fletcher-Fierro
