Springfield voters overwhelmingly passed a ballot measure in the special municipal election on Aug. 8 that will allow the city to impose an additional 3-percent sales tax on recreational marijuana.
The lone ballot issue was met with low voter turnout, and with just less than than 70% of voters in favor of the tax with 47 of 47 precincts reporting, around 8:51 p.m.
Revenues from the tax — which the city anticipates could be as much as $1.8 million in the first year — are required to be spent on public safety, addiction prevention and treatment services, housing and mental health services.
“We are very grateful for the support of the community with this passage,” Springfield Mayor Ken McClure said in a news release. “Community health, public safety, and the housing shortage are important issues. I am pleased we will have additional funds for these purposes.”
| With 47 of 47 precincts reporting | Votes | Pct. | |
| ✔ | Yes | 4,186 | 69.82% |
| No | 1,809 | 30.18% |
The 3-percent tax will be in addition to the state’s 6-percent sales tax on recreational marijuana and the city’s base sales tax rate of 8.1-percent.
Prior to the Aug. 8 election, Springfield was the largest municipality in Missouri without the 3-percent additional local sales tax on recreational marijuana, which passed in cities and counties across Missouri in April, including Ozark and the counties of Christian, Polk and Webster.
Greene County does not currently have a 3-percent tax. The stackability of a city tax with a county tax remains in question, and some anticipate its legality to be determined by the courts.
Under Amendment 3 — now Article XIV, Section 2 of the Missouri Constitution — local government entities are authorized to put the question of whether or not to impose the additional 3-percent tax on recreational marijuana before voters.
The tax measure was added to an otherwise-empty ballot by the Springfield City Council, which unanimously voted to put the question before voters on May 22. This came after a lengthy discussion amongst council members on May 15 to determine how the tax revenues would be spent.
While the Greene County Clerk’s Office initially anticipated a 6-8 percent turnout for the election, it was only around 2 percent by mid-morning on Aug. 8.
With 5,995 total votes cast, the election had a voter turnout of 5.63-percent, according to Greene County Clerk Shane Schoeller.
While there were no significant campaigns for or against the tax measure, it was generally supported by some recreational marijuana industry professionals, Springfield City Council members and the Greene County Medical Society.
Because the measure sits alone on the ballot, the city will be responsible for the entire cost of the election, which it will reimburse to Greene County. It was estimated to cost about $250,000, an amount that was allocated by the Springfield City Council for the election costs from the general fund carryover balance at its Aug. 7 meeting.
If the City of Springfield is able to provide notice of the measure’s passage to the Department of Revenue by Oct. 1, the tax could go into effect on Jan. 1, 2024.
Once in effect, tax revenues would be accounted for in a special revenue fund, according to Springfield director of Finance David Holtmann. While city council members decided against putting an allocated percentage of the funds for the four specified areas in the ballot language, it will be required to act on budget adjustments to determine how the funds would be spent.
Funding will still be restricted to the four areas laid out in the ballot language.
“They could spend all funds in one program, divide them evenly or take a more customized approach,” City Manager Jason Gage said in the release. “If they should focus on long-term programming using the funds, then it is possible they will prepare a longer-term funding plan similar to our capital improvement program.”
