Sales tax to help at-risk youth left off April ballot


Penn Malone, 6, stands next to and watches her mom, Anne Bloemke, on Nov. 6, 2018, as she casts her ballot at Ward 4, Precinct 1 at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Jefferson City.
Penn Malone, 6, stands next to and watches her mom, Anne Bloemke, on Nov. 6, 2018, as she casts her ballot at Ward 4, Precinct 1 at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Jefferson City.

The Cole County Commission declined to put a proposed sales tax increase to help at-risk youth on the April 2 ballot.

"Putting Kids First" organizers told commissioners Tuesday they had planned to gather the 3,000 petition signatures needed to put the issue on the ballot by Jan. 4. However, as of Tuesday, they had about half that number and showed the box with the signed petitions they had collected. With the holidays and recent winter storms, they could not reach the threshold, they said.

The organizers faced a Jan. 4 deadline for the petitions so the Cole County clerk's office had time to verify signatures on the petition. The deadline for governmental bodies to put a measure on the April ballot was Tuesday.

Over the last several weeks, Joy Sweeney, director of the Jefferson City Council for Drug Free Youth, had urged the commission to put the matter on the ballot to allow residents to vote on the matter. She noted recent murder and other serious crimes being committed by teenagers as a prime reason for getting more money to help at-risk youth.

Jefferson City resident Ed Storey and other residents started the initiative to develop a Cole County Community Children's Service Fund, which would be created through a quarter-cent sales tax increase - one penny for every $4 purchased - raising approximately $2.4 million annually.

The money would help fund services and programs such as crisis intervention, school-based prevention programs, home-based intervention programs and outpatient substance abuse treatment. The funds could benefit organizations such as Capital City CASA, The Salvation Army, Pathways, Special Learning Center and Missouri Valley Big Brothers Big Sisters - all organizations that work with children and teenagers.

A nine-member appointed board of Cole County residents would govern the funds, Storey said.

Local organizations offer youth services, he said, "but they're limited to how many (youths) they can help because of a lack of funds."

"These funds are what's going to make it better," Storey said. "These funds, when we get this $2.4 million, it's not just for this year, it's for every year. As we keep getting this every year we will actually be able to stop the up trend of youth drug use, get it level and make it a downward trend. It's not going to happen over night, but it will happen. And the way it will happen is to get the people to say, 'Yes, we do want this for the children.'"

Ten Missouri counties have a Community Children's Service Fund, including Boone County, Storey said.

Sweeney noted the last county to vote on the tax was Clay County, but organizers there did not get the signatures needed to put the matter on the ballot. So, the commission did put it on the ballot, and residents approved the tax by a margin of 61 votes, he said.

All three commissioners told the group they wanted to help children. But the commissioners said they couldn't support putting the issue on the ballot because the group couldn't get the 3,000 signatures needed in the time allowed.

"I had a couple of people come to my business and say they were in favor, but the majority said they were not," Presiding Commissioner Sam Bushman said. "I also don't know what an effect this would have on the United Way, which already does so much for many of the same agencies that could benefit from this tax."

Sweeney said they would continue to work to eventually get the matter to a vote of residents. She said they firmly believe there is support for a tax because of the support they've seen from school districts and the 500 signatures they have gathered in the past four days.

"We would have wanted to get this going sooner than later, but we'll keep on trying," she said.