Wildwood Hires Lobbyist to Fight Sales Tax Change Sought by Fenton

"Sausage making looks like a clean operation, compared to the daily, and sometimes hourly, versions of legislative amendments in Jefferson City related to proposed changes to St. Louis County's pooled sales tax system," said Wildwood Mayor Tim Woerther at last week's city council meeting.

What's at stake for Wildwood residents is 45 percent of the city's general revenues each year, or approximately $2.1 million annually, that comes from how county sales tax proceeds are distributed.

Legislation currently in the Missouri House of Representatives, House Bill 534, would change the way sales taxes are distributed. Some St. Louis County cities, Fenton and Chesterfield in particular, support HB534 that would allow them to keep the sales tax receipts that currently are distributed to "pool" cities such as Wildwood.

Due to legislative uncertainties, Wildwood has joined with Webster Groves, University City and St. Louis County to hire their own lobbying firm to represent their interests in Jefferson City on HB534.  St. Louis County and other municipalities, such as Wildwood, seek to leave the sales tax system the way it has operated since 1993.

Fenton already has hired a lobbyist to recommend modifying or eliminating the decades-long system of taking sales taxes collected in each municipality within St. Louis County and putting it into a pool to be shared by the municipalities.

Under the current system, municipalities are divided into two camps:  point-of-sale (“A” cities) and pool ( “B” cities). Under the system, the “A” cities are required to share a portion of their 1-cent countywide sales tax revenues with both the “B” cities and St. Louis County on a per-capita basis. Under this system, the pool cities receive $124 per person, annually.

At last week's meeting, Wildwood council members voted to spend $1,875 toward hiring the Jefferson City-based lobbying firm R.J. Scherr & Associates to monitor future legislative developments about the sales tax topic.

"We've been monitoring the situation (of HB 534) all along with a great deal of concern," said Wildwood city administrator Dan Dubruiel.

He said with people in Jefferson City "intent on undoing" the pooled sales tax approach, it became vital to enhance Wildwood's efforts to stay informed.

"It's one thing to have one particular bill to monitor, but quite another thing when additional fronts are opened up by proponents to change the county's tax system through a variety of bill amendments," he said.

He called what's happening in Jefferson City related to the pool sales tax matter a "bait and switch" situation.

Wildwood representatives and those from the other three participating entities in the new lobbying effort, participated in a conference call with the lobbyist group.

"We think they will do a fine job of representing us as others try to oppose and thwart to unravel the pool tax system," Dubruiel said.

Woerther said, that among the "plethora of amendments" surfacing in the last few weeks of the legislative session, one exempted only the city of Fenton from the county's pool tax system. "Proponents of change are looking at any way possible to get something done," he said. "But it's shaping up to be Fenton versus St. Louis County versus Class A versus Class B cities."