Governor signs bill that will allow Ozark County LEO tax to be collected

Almost three years after Ozark County residents overwhelmingly passed a half-cent sales tax for law enforcement, the tax will finally be able to be collected.

In early July, Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe signed into law HB 594, which eliminates capital gains tax in Missouri and has the amendment allowing Ozark County to collect the public safety sales tax. 

“For the past three years, many legislators have worked to get this passed, including former Rep. Travis Smith and former Sen. Karla Eslinger, and this year [State] Rep. Matthew Overcast and I picked up the baton and got it across the finish line,” State Sen. Brad Hudson wrote in a recent Facebook post. “Big legislation that impacts the entire state is often the focus, but smaller pieces that help our counties and cities can be vital. I'm proud of the work that was done to get this legislation passed for Ozark County!”

“We are just happy that the state was able to fix their issue and be able to comply with the wishes of the voters that passed the tax back in 2022,” said Ozark County Presiding Commissioner Terry Newton. 

“A lot of times it’s the big legislation that makes the headlines and get the attention,” said Hudson. “And then there are the [bills] that only affect certain [smaller] communities that need to be passed. I knew that we needed to attach [the public safety tax] to a bill to get it across the finish line. 

“And this will be a game changer for Ozark County.”

“Our goal was to get it done,” said Rep. Overcast. “I’m glad we were able to get it passed.”

“This is a great example of how we can get things done in Jefferson City to help things at home,” said Hudson.

“It’s a lot easier to deliver wins for our district when we work together for the good of the community,” said Overcast. “I’m especially thankful for the collaboration with Senator Hudson’s team to get this done in year one. This fix ensures Ozark County can finally access the law enforcement funding voters approved - so our deputies can better protect and serve.”

The background

In November 2022, residents approved a half-cent law enforcement sales tax to bolster the current half-cent tax going to law enforcement. That was the year the Ozark County Sheriff’s Department began facing serious budget issues, which led to Sheriff Cass Martin laying off two full-time deputies and five other employees that August, cutting back patrols and officers answering only serious calls. Minor and non-violent crime were handled over the phone or residents had to come into the sheriff’s office to file a report. Martin said soaring fuel costs and record inflation led to the crisis.

At the time, the sheriff said the department was depending on that tax money to fund the department in the future. When Ozark County voters passed the tax, the sheriff and his employees began to breathe a little easier and the sheriff began plans to bring staff back.

However, in January 2023, the Ozark County Commission was notified that the law enforcement sales tax could not be imposed - all because of a piece of legislation passed in 2017.

“So basically what happened is that there is a statute that was passed in the legislature in 2017 that puts a cap on the amount of local sales tax that can be collected by counties,” former Rep. Travis Smith said at the time. “The way the ballot language was written for this tax, it violated that statute. It’s bizarre, because the county thought the ballot language was correct, but there was this statute that had been passed that basically threw a wrench in it - a technicality that only lawyers would notice.”

However the repercussions of that “technicality” were noticed by the OCSD, throwing the department “back in survival mode,” Martin said at the time. It left a big question mark on how the department would continue to offer the adequate services and protections to the people of the county. 

The future

But now the future is looking brighter with the department’s contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and now with the ability to collect the sales tax.

“When [the budget crisis] started we had two choices - be able to take in federal inmates or pass the law enforcement tax - to have some money for the future of the department,” said Martin. “There by the grace of God, we got both.”

With the ICE contract creating several new jobs for jailers, transporters and more, Martin said the tax will bring many more benefits to the current deputies. 

“This will allow us to create a competitive salary with the surrounding counties for our guys and [allow the county to] provide their equipment,” said Martin. 

As of now, Ozark County only provides radios and vehicles for deputies, while the majority of departments provide uniforms, guns and other gear. “Our guys have to provide their own uniforms, guns, gun belts and other pieces of equipment,” he said.

But still the deputies stay.

“Ozark County is a special place. Our guys are here because they want to be here. They’re here for the right reasons,” said Sheriff Martin. “They could go somewhere else and make a lot more money.

“We hope [the law enforcement tax] will do a lot to create a competitive salary and training to bring us up with the rest of the world, keeping up with new laws, new procedures. They will be held to a higher standard with this [improvement]. There’s no reason not to be held to that standard.”

Martin said he isn’t sure exactly how much the new tax will bring in or what improvements or how many deputies will be hired when the department starts to see the tax money in its budget. 

Presently, Martin said the department usually brings in between $38,000 and $45,000 a month from the current sales tax. Martin is optimistic that the new tax will double that amount. “I’m looking at the numbers, and it should put more deputies on the road.

“My goal is to turn Ozark County law enforcement into the best it can be,” he added. “I want us to be one of the best law enforcement [agencies] in southern Missouri.”