Jefferson County Proposition T
Simple majority required.Ballot wording: Shall Jefferson County, Missouri, levy a tax of five percent (5%) on each sleeping room occupied and rented by "transient guests" ("person or persons who occupy a room or rooms...for thirty-one days or less," as defined by RSMo 67.1000) of "hotels and motels" (defined as an establishment that provides lodging and/or parking or rooms that are accessible to an outdoor parking area and usually provides meals, entertainment and various personal services for the public to include but not limited to hotels, motels, bed & breakfasts, inns, and commercially operated short term rentals such as vacation homes, condominiums, or rooms listed on platforms like Airbnb or Vrbo, etc.) located in the County, to exclude any hotels and motels in any municipality within the County that already imposes a transient tax under RSMo 67.1000 or any other transient tax under Missouri law, where the proceeds of which shall be expended solely for funding a convention and visitors bureau?Summary: The measure would allow the county to adopt a 5% lodging tax on short-term overnight rentals in hotels, motels and short-term rental units. The revenue would fund county tourism promotion efforts. Exempt from the proposed county tax would be hotels, motels and other short-term rentals in municipalities that already impose a lodging tax - Arnold, Festus and Pevely. This proposition will be on the ballot throughout the county except in those three cities. Supporters say the proposed county measure would equalize the taxes paid by lodging establishments and encourage tourism. Opponents say it would be difficult to enforce.
