Voter Guide

Simple majority required.Ballot wording: Shall the City of Maryland Heights be authorized to implement a local use tax on online purchases, for the purpose of enhancing municipal services such as free trash hauling and capital improvements (including, but not limited to, streets, bridges, sidewalks, etc.)? The revenue from this tax will be utilized in the City of Maryland Heights at the current 1/2 cent tax rate collected by the City on purchases locally. If any local sales tax is repealed, reduced or raised by voter approval, the proposed local use tax shall also be repealed, reduced or raised by the same action.Summary: The proposed tax on purchases from out-of-state businesses would be the same amount as the city government s sales tax, currently a half-cent. It would be applied to purchases from businesses, mostly online or catalog vendors, outside Missouri and not taxed in the other state. The tax would be collected by the vendor; some may already be collecting it. Proponents say it would generate more than $750,000 a year to be used for trash, recycling and yard waste collection and allow local businesses to compete more fairly with out-of-state businesses.