June 2, 2020 Municipal General Election - PASSED

If approved by voters, the use tax would go into effect October 1, 2020. 

Through the election process, Lee's Summit citizens voted to impose a local sales tax as a means to fund vital City services. Use tax revenue would fund the same services the City provides from the existing sales taxes such as:

• the operations of 10 City departments
• police, fire, Animal Control, code enforcement, building inspections and snow removal
• curb and pavement management programs
• capital improvement projects such as streets and stormwater
• Parks and Recreation projects such as trail development, neighborhood parks and indoor/outdoor community facilities

No. Local sales tax applies to purchases made at retail locations in Missouri, while the use tax applies to purchases made from certain online and out-of-state vendors. Purchases cannot fall into both groups so consumers will never pay both on the same transaction.

In 2018, the Missouri Department of Revenue estimated that Lee’s Summit would have received $1.8 million annually if a use tax was in place.

The City relies heavily on revenues from local sales tax to fund basic services. With the rise in e-commerce, the City is seeing a decline in sales tax growth. To keep pace with this trend, the City must modernize its revenue sources to continue to provide the essential services our residents expect.

Yes. The state of Missouri and 204 Missouri cities already have a  voter-approved use tax in place, including Kansas City, Grandview, Liberty, Independence, Excelsior Springs, St. Joseph and Gladstone. Currently, the City of Lee’s Summit receives no use tax revenue.

Local businesses are at a competitive disadvantage when local taxes are avoided by out-of-state vendors. A use tax would eliminate the disparity in tax rates collected by local and out-of-state sellers by imposing the same rate on all sellers.

With no local use tax in place, residents have an incentive to purchase goods out of state instead of buying locally. 

The state of Missouri mandates that the local use tax be applied at the same rate as the local sales tax. In Lee's Summit, the current sales tax rate is 2.25%.  

No. The use tax does not apply to purchases made by Missouri residents from a Missouri vendor or retailer. The use tax applies to out-of-state vendors.

Yes. If an item is exempt from state and local sales tax it is also exempt from the state and local use tax. 

Only cities that have passed a local use tax can expect a revenue increase from Amazon sales. 

A buyer is required to file a “Consumer Use Tax Return” with the Missouri Department of Revenue if the buyer’s purchases exceed $2,000 in any calendar year for which the seller did not collect the use tax at the time of the purchase. This requirement currently exists for all Missouri residents regardless of the Lee's Summit use tax ballot question results. 

The Missouri Department of Revenue provides this explanation:

“If a seller does not collect sales or use tax from the purchaser, the purchaser is responsible for remitting the use tax to Missouri (unless the property is purchased for resale or otherwise exempt by statute). Also, a seller not engaged in business is not required to collect Missouri sales or use tax but the purchaser in these instances is responsible for remitting use tax to Missouri. A purchaser is required to file a use tax return if the cumulative purchases subject to use tax exceed $2,000 in a calendar year. Use tax is computed on the purchase price of all goods once purchases exceed $2,000.”

The Missouri consumer use tax form is Form 53-C. This return is only filed with the State of Missouri because use taxes for consumer purchases are imposed by the state or at the local level (municipalities, counties, special districts). There is federal requirement for a use tax form because there are no federal use taxes imposed on the purchases. 

Election day is June 2, 2020. Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.