SRO Tax deemed invalid by Mo. Dept of Revenue

The City of Portageville received some bad news last Thursday afternoon. In the August Primary, the City had asked for a ¼ of one percent sales tax to fund a full-time, certified school resource officer and public safety improvements. Word came from the Missouri Department of Revenue has now said the election was invalid.

According to Alderman Vince Berry, “It is with regret that I must announce that, due to a legal error in the writing of the ordinance authorizing the Portageville School Resource Officer, the Missouri Dept. Of Revenue has determined that the election authorizing it is invalid.”

“In short, the State of Missouri does not allow a municipality to collect a General Revenue Tax at 1/4 of one cent, therefore, the tax election is invalid.”

In a special called meeting of the City Council on Monday evening, Alderman Berry discussed his conversations with State Representative Don Rone, State Senator Doug Libla as well as a representative from the Department of Revenue.

Berry said that Rone and Libla are going to work up a bill in both of the chambers that would allow Fourth Class Cities to be allowed to collect a quarter percent tax.

There are other options that will be sought out as well.

The City Council voted to stay where we are now, look at the options there are available and then place the tax back on the April Municipal election.

“Please be assured that the main focus in this situation, for both the City of Portageville and the Portageville School District, is the safety and well being of our children. As such, nothing will change, in the short term, with the School Resource Officer.”

“Both City and School Officials will diligently be working to solve this issue. But, for now, our Resource Officer will be on duty, AT THE SCHOOL, providing the security we all wish for our children,” Berry said.

“This mistake was not caught by our City Attorney, the County Clerk, or the City Board of Alderman, or two years ago when we first placed it on the ballot. This is definitely a learning experience and one I hope we can all move forward in a positive manner,” he said.