STE. GENEVIEVE – Presiding Ste. Genevieve County Commissioner Randy Ruzicka says so far the Missouri Department of Revenue has not responded to the county’s request for a restoration of more than $800,000 that was taken from the county’s sales tax receipts after a law was passed eliminating certain items of industrial and mining interests from the tax.
Ruzicka says the problem is the Hancock Amendment to the Missouri Constitution bars the revenue department from reducing the county’s sales tax revenue.
He said the law giving the industrial and mining interests the tax break passed the House and Senate a couple of years ago and was signed into law without much notice, because it was attached to another larger bill.
Ste. Genevieve County authorities were unaware of it until sales tax receipts began to plunge, virtually overnight. The county treasurer looked into the situation and discovered what was happening.
On Monday, the Ste. Genevieve County Commission sent a certified letter to the Missouri Department of Revenue seeking the return of more than $800,000.
So far Ruzicka said, the county has had no response from the Revenue Department.
We will hear from Randy Ruzicka himself in our Focus segment during the noon and 4 p.m. reports today on AM 980 and FM 105.3