1/8 Sales Tax Needs Support
Wednesday, April 16, 2008 at 09:26 PM
by District 12 Missouri
From the Kansas City Star
Vote on sales tax dedicated to veterans needs gets first OK
By KIT WAGAR The Star’s Jefferson City correspondent
JEFFERSON CITY |
The Missouri House gave initial approval Tuesday to a $116 million increase in sales taxes to provide funds for new veterans homes and other veterans programs.
The proposal would boost the state sales tax by one-eighth percent. The new revenue would be earmarked for a half-dozen new veterans nursing homes and six to 12 centers to provide various services to former military men and women, said Rep. Barney Fisher, the measure’s sponsor.
The proposal, which still needs final approval in the House before going to the Senate, would place the tax increase on the November ballot. If approved by voters, the tax increase would take effect Jan. 1, 2009. It would expire at the end of 2016 unless reauthorized by voters in November 2016, when it would drop to one-tenth percent.
Legislative staff estimated that the new sales tax would actually provide about $68 million a year in new revenue for veterans programs. Some $35.5 million would replace general revenue that now pays for the state’s seven existing veterans homes.
An additional $12.7 million from the sales tax on motor vehicles would go to the state’s road fund and to local governments.
Fisher, a Republican from Richards, said the proposal was needed to provide services to military personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and to an aging population of Vietnam veterans.
Several legislators said they supported veterans programs, but they did not want to be accused of voting to raise taxes. Fisher said no one should make such an accusation.
"You’re talking about putting it on the ballot for voters to decide," Fisher said. "There is not much that’s more democratic than that."
The proposal also would remake the Veterans Commission, replacing the five-member panel with a nine-member commission that includes four state legislators.
Lawmakers questioned whether the proposal would give an appointed body a blank check. Fisher said the addition of four lawmakers to the commission would boost accountability, but expenditures ultimately would be determined by the commission.
"If they want to waste their money, there’s not a whole lot we can do about it," he said.
Rep. Gary Dusenberg, a Republican from Blue Springs, said he supported the proposal. But he said he preferred to pay for it with the existing revenue.
Rep. Michael Brown, a Democrat from Kansas City, said veterans services were woefully underfunded in Missouri. Such an increase would help provide services to the homeless, many of whom are veterans, he said.
To reach Kit Wagar, call 816-234-4440 or send e-mail to kwagar@kcstar.com.
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