Mo. Rev. Stat. § 644.034 — MO Code / Chapter 644 / Section 644.034
644.034 Wastewater and water pollution abatement in certain counties (including ...
Status: in_force

644.034. Wastewater and water pollution abatement in certain counties (including Christian and Greene counties), amount — issue submitted to voters, ballot language — sales tax, special trust fund established, purpose. — 1. To promote tourism by maintaining the quality of the waters of the state, the governing body of any county containing part of a Corp of Engineers lake, any county of the third classification without a township form of government with at least thirty-two thousand but not more than thirty-five thousand inhabitants or any county of the first classification without a charter form of government with a population of at least two hundred thousand inhabitants may impose, by ordinance or order, a sales tax in the amount of up to one-fourth of one percent on all retail sales made in such county which are subject to taxation pursuant to the provisions of sections 144.010 to 144.525 , for the purpose of providing improved treatment of wastewater and water pollution abatement, including establishment of new wastewater treatment facilities or expansion or other improvements to existing wastewater treatment facilities, and the governing body of any county, in conjunction with the imposition of any sales tax pursuant to this subsection, may have the option to issue bonds to preliminarily * fund the provision of improved treatment of wastewater and water pollution abatement as specified in this subsection. The tax authorized by this section shall be in addition to any and all other sales taxes allowed by law; except that, no ordinance or order imposing a sales tax pursuant to the provisions of this section shall be effective unless the governing body of the county submits to the voters of the county, at a county or state general, primary or special election, a proposal to authorize the governing body of the county to impose a tax. In addition, a county shall only be authorized to issue bonds in conjunction with any sales tax imposed pursuant to this section after the governing body of the county submits to the voters of the county, at a county or state general, primary or special election, a proposal to authorize the governing body of the county to issue bonds. Any sales tax imposed pursuant to this section shall not be authorized for a period of more than five years; provided that, if sales tax is imposed pursuant to this section in conjunction with the issuance of bonds, the sales tax shall expire upon full repayment of all bonds issued.

2. The ballot of submission shall contain, but need not be limited to, the following language:

(1) If the proposal submitted involves only authorization to impose the tax authorized by this section the ballot shall contain substantially the following:

; or

(2) If the proposal submitted involves authorization to impose the tax authorized by this section, authorization to issue bonds to preliminarily fund the provision of improved treatment of wastewater and water pollution abatement as specified in subsection 1 of this section, obligates the county to repay all bonds issued from the proceeds of the tax authorized by this section and requires the expiration of the tax upon the repayment of all such bonds, the ballot shall contain substantially the following:

If a majority of the votes cast on the proposal by the qualified voters voting thereon are in favor of the proposal submitted pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection, then the ordinance or order and any amendments thereto shall be in effect on the first day of the second quarter immediately following the election approving the proposal. If the constitutionally required percentage of the voters voting thereon are in favor of the proposal submitted pursuant to subdivision (2) of this subsection, then the ordinance or order and any amendments thereto shall be in effect on the first day of the second quarter immediately following the election approving the proposal. If a proposal receives less than the required majority, then the governing body of the county shall have no power to impose the sales tax herein authorized unless and until the governing body of the county shall again have submitted another proposal to authorize the governing body of the county to impose the sales tax authorized by this section and such proposal is approved by the required majority of the qualified voters voting thereon. However, in no event shall a proposal pursuant to this section be submitted to the voters sooner than twelve months from the date of the last proposal pursuant to this section.

3. All revenue received by a county from the tax authorized pursuant to the provisions of this section shall be deposited in a special trust fund and shall be used solely for the purposes specified in the proposal submitted pursuant to subsection 2 of this section within such county for so long as the tax shall remain in effect.

4. Once the tax authorized by this section is abolished or is terminated by any means, all funds remaining in the special trust fund shall be used solely for the purposes specified in the proposal submitted pursuant to subsection 2 of this section within such county. Any funds in such special trust fund which are not needed for current expenditures may be invested by the governing body in accordance with applicable laws relating to the investment of other county funds.

5. All sales taxes collected by the director of revenue under this section on behalf of any county, less one percent for cost of collection which shall be deposited in the state's general revenue fund after payment of premiums for surety bonds as provided in section 32.087 , shall be deposited in a special trust fund, which is hereby created, to be known as the "Local Wastewater Treatment Sales Tax Trust Fund". The moneys in the local wastewater treatment sales tax trust fund shall not be deemed to be state funds and shall not be commingled with any funds of the state. The director of revenue shall keep accurate records of the amount of money in the trust and which was collected in each county imposing a sales tax pursuant to this section, and the records shall be open to the inspection of officers of the county and the public. Not later than the tenth day of each month the director of revenue shall distribute all moneys deposited in the trust fund during the preceding month to the county which levied the tax; such funds shall be deposited with the county treasurer of each such county, and all expenditures of funds arising from the local wastewater treatment sales tax trust fund shall be by an appropriation act to be enacted by the governing body of each such county. Expenditures may be made from the fund for any purposes authorized pursuant to subsection 2 of this section in the ordinance or order adopted by the governing body submitting the local wastewater treatment tax to the voters.

6. The director of revenue may authorize the state treasurer to make refunds from the amounts in the trust fund and credited to any county for erroneous payments and overpayments made, and may redeem dishonored checks and drafts deposited to the credit of such counties. If any county abolishes the tax, the county shall notify the director of revenue of the action at least ninety days prior to the effective date of the repeal and the director of revenue may order retention in the trust fund, for a period of one year, of two percent of the amount collected after receipt of such notice to cover possible refunds or overpayment of the tax and to redeem dishonored checks and drafts deposited to the credit of such accounts. After one year has elapsed after the effective date of abolition of the tax in such county, the director of revenue shall remit the balance in the account to the county and close the account of that county. The director of revenue shall notify each county of each instance of any amount refunded or any check redeemed from receipts due the county.

7. Except as modified in this section, all provisions of sections 32.085 and 32.087 shall apply to the tax imposed pursuant to this section.

8. All provisions of chapter 108 shall apply to any bonds issued pursuant to this section.

9. For purposes of this section, the term "wastewater ** treatment and water pollution abatement" is limited to the following:

(1) Establishment of new wastewater treatment facilities or expansion or other improvement to existing wastewater treatment facilities;

(2) Elimination or reduction of the release of water pollutants affecting waters of the state located in the county; and

(3) Use of funds as matching funds for grants or loans from the clean water commission pursuant to this chapter.

(L. 1999 H.B. 139 § 5) Effective 7-13-99 *Word "preliminary" appears in original rolls. **Word "waterwater" appears in original rolls.