Gabe Stark
Reporter

Missouri voters will decide four proposed constitutional amendments during the Tuesday, Aug. 4, primary election. The measures address funding for state parks and soil conservation, the election of county assessors, citizen-led ballot initiatives and the future of Missouri’s individual income tax.

The proposals will appear as Amendments 1, 2, 4 and 5.

Amendment 1: Parks And Soils Tax

Official Ballot Question Language: “Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to continue for 10 years the existing sales and use tax of 1/10th of 1% for soil and water conservation and state parks and historic sites?

A “yes” vote would continue the tax for another decade and require another statewide vote in 2036. A “no” vote would allow it to expire.

According to the constitutional language, if approved to continue, the revenue would be divided evenly between soil and water conservation and state park funds. Revenue of approximately $140 million annually is currently dedicated to soil and water conservation and Missouri’s state parks and historic sites.

If voters reject continuation, the tax would end after a two-fiscal-year phase out.

Amendment 2: Elected Assessors In Charter Counties

Official Ballot Question Language: “Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to require that all charter counties elect their county assessor and that such assessors meet qualifications established by law?”

Amendment 2 would require every Missouri charter county to elect its county assessor and require those assessors to meet training requirements established by state law.

A “yes” vote would add those requirements to the Missouri Constitution. A “no” vote would retain the current provisions, including an exemption that applies to Jackson County. State and local governmental entities estimate no costs or savings, and the measure would have no direct effect on taxes.

Before the proposed change, Missouri law allowed a population-based exception under which a charter county with more than 600,000 but fewer than 700,000 residents — a category that applies to Jackson County — was not required to elect its county assessor. Instead, that county could continue using its existing method for selecting an assessor.

If approved, the amendment would eliminate that exception. All charter counties, regardless of population, would be required to elect their county assessors and ensure those assessors meet training requirements established by state law.

The amendment would not change how assessors are selected in Grundy County, which does not operate under a charter form of government.

Amendment 4: Changing Citizen Initiative Requirements

Official Ballot Question Language: “Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to require that any constitutional amendment proposed by initiative petition receive a majority of votes in each congressional district and that the full text of such proposals be made available to voters?”

Amendment 4 would change the approval process for constitutional amendments placed on the ballot through Missouri’s citizen initiative-petition system.

According to the ballot effort description, a “yes” vote would require citizen-led constitutional amendments to receive majority support in every Missouri congressional district. It would also require the full text of each proposal to be made available to voters with their ballots.

A “no” vote would retain the current system, under which an amendment may pass with a simple majority of votes statewide.

If approved, a proposed amendment could receive more “yes” than “no” votes statewide and still fail if it did not receive majority support in every congressional district.

The original House Committee Substitute for House Joint Resolution 3 contains additional provisions not summarized in the certified ballot question. The resolution, titled the “Protect Missouri Voters” amendment, if passed as part of the vote, would prohibit political committees supporting or opposing statewide ballot measures from knowingly accepting contributions from foreign nationals or foreign adversaries. It would also prohibit those parties from making expenditures related to statewide ballot measures. Violations could result in up to one year in jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both, along with a penalty equal to three times the illegal contribution. The attorney general would have exclusive criminal jurisdiction over those violations.

The amendment, if passed, would also establish the crime of petition-signature fraud. Prohibited conduct would include forging signatures, signing another person’s name, knowingly signing the same petition more than once, submitting signatures known to be false or offering something of value in exchange for a signature. Violations could carry up to one year in jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.

After petition signatures are submitted but before the measure is placed on the ballot, the secretary of state or a designee would be required to conduct at least one in-person or online public hearing. A transcript or summary would have to be published within seven days and before the measure appears on the ballot.

The Department of Corrections estimates increased annual costs of up to $21,817. The Office of State Public Defender estimates an unknown fiscal impact, while other state and local governmental entities estimate no costs or savings. The measure would not increase or decrease taxes.

Amendment 5: Path To Eliminate Income Tax

Official Ballot Question Language: “Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to require the General Assembly to phase out and eliminate the individual income tax based on revenue growth and to allow expansion of sales and use taxes to additional goods and services?”

Amendment 5 would direct the Missouri General Assembly to phase out and eventually eliminate the state individual income tax based on revenue growth.

The measure, if passed, would also authorize lawmakers to expand sales and use taxes to additional goods and services as part of legislation intended to eliminate the income tax and reduce local tax rates.

A “yes” vote would establish the constitutional framework for phasing out the individual income tax and expanding the potential sales-tax base. A “no” vote would leave the current constitutional tax provisions unchanged.

The original House Joint Resolutions 173 and 174 would require lawmakers to reduce the top individual income-tax rate as state revenue grows. Once the tax is eliminated, the legislature would be constitutionally prohibited from reinstating it.

Missouri’s Constitution currently restricts state and local sales and use taxes from being expanded to services or transactions that were not taxable on Jan. 1, 2015. Amendment 5, if passed, would create an exception allowing added taxes on additional goods and services when enacted for the stated purpose of eliminating the individual income tax.

Legislation expanding the sales-tax base or increasing the state sales-tax rate would also have to reduce individual income-tax revenue by an amount equal to the new sales-tax revenue.

Beginning 12 months after an expansion takes effect, local governments collecting additional revenue would be required to make a one-time tax-rate reduction equal to approximately 97% of that additional revenue. Reductions could be made through sales, property or earnings tax rates but could not reduce funding for public schools.

Constitutionally established sales-tax rates would also be adjusted to offset additional revenue produced by taxing more goods and services. The adult-use marijuana tax would be excluded, and the state auditor would calculate the adjusted rates.

If passed, the amendment would not immediately eliminate the income tax or automatically impose new sales taxes. Those changes would require future legislation.

If implemented, state entities anticipate at least $100,000 in costs and an annual reduction of approximately $57,000 in voluntary income-tax checkoff donations.

Voters may review certified ballot titles, ballot language, fiscal estimates and the full constitutional documents through the Missouri Secretary of State’s website.

Key election dates

• Voter registration deadline for primary election: July 8

• Absentee voting with an excuse, in-person, begins: June 23

• No-excuse absentee voting: begins July 21

• Absentee ballot request deadline: Application received by July 22

• Absentee ballot return deadline: Aug. 4

• Absentee ballot return deadline for military and those overseas: noon on Aug. 7

• Polls will also be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day, Aug. 4, at polling locations.

More election details ahead of the August primary will also be published in coming print editions of the Telegraph and online at trentontelegraph.com.