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In This
Issue
- Pastors Breakfast
- Why Shop Local?
- Sales Tax Holiday
- A Little Bit of Humor…
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Me
http://www.cynthiadavis.net/
E-Mail
cynthia.davis@house.mo.gov
Interim Committee on
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Pastors
Breakfast
Last week I hosted a pastors
breakfast and legislative briefing. Thanks to all the pastors who
attended, it was a great success. The synergism created by bringing
caring community leaders together is a mighty force. We are working
to make a difference in St.
Charles County!
Why Shop Local?
One
of my constituents told me he appreciates shopping in a store that has
knowledgeable staff. Others say they like the friendly environment
where they are welcomed and appreciated. However, lately, it
seems like a lot of local businesses are going out of business.
The
vacant retail space in our area is a haunting reminder that times are
changing. According to information from the Department of Revenue,
sales tax revenue for the city of O’Fallon is down from amounts last year
by about half a million dollars, or about 7 percent of last year’s
revenues. For St.
Charles County, sales tax revenues are down
over $1 million from this time last year, or down a little over 3
percent.
In
addition, the state of Missouri is also collecting somewhat
less fuel tax revenues, reflecting the decrease in gasoline consumption
due to increased cost. Tax receipts are down a little over $1
million, but that only amounts to a decrease of 0.16 percent from last
year’s revenues.
If
we want to keep businesses in our community, it is critical that we
support them. If the sales tax receipts are down, that indicates our
sales are down for our businesses. We all appreciate the amenities
of having additional purchasing options right close to home. If we
vote with our feet, we can keep them here. If we vote with our
computer keyboards, they will vanish.
If
you have any ideas for helping our local businesses stay here, I need to
know your thoughts.
You can send me
your opinion by clicking here:
Cynthia Davis.
Sales Tax Holiday This Weekend
When
I moved here from Boston in 1984, I was
surprised that Missouri charged sales tax on food and
clothes. In Massachusetts, these were considered
necessities and state government thought it was wrong to charge sales tax
on items that people in all economic brackets had to purchase. In the
Missouri House of Representatives, one of my proudest votes was for
legislation that would give consumers a temporary exemption from sales tax
on some items. Although the timing coincides well for those
preparing for the school year, this
tax break is for everybody. It’s okay to enjoy the
savings even if you are just buying for
yourself.
It’s
starting tomorrow.
From August 1 to Aug. 3, a sales tax holiday will be in effect
for
clothing,
school supplies, computers, and computer software. The temporary
sales tax exemption applies to state and local sales taxes unless a city
chooses to opt out of the holiday. In St.
Charles County,
the cities that voted to not participate are St. Peters,
Cottleville, Flint Hill and New
Melle.
The
sales tax exemption is limited to:
- Clothing – any article having a taxable value of $100 or less,
- School
supplies, including
textbooks – not
to exceed $50 per purchase,
- Computer
software – taxable value of
$350 or less,
- Personal
computers – not to exceed
$3,500, and
- Computer
peripheral devices – not to
exceed $3,500.
If you would like to read
more details about this tax relief, you can click here: Sales Tax
Holiday.
A Little
Bit of Humor…
A preacher was offered $500.00
to do a funeral of a man that was the worst sinner in the world; the only
stipulation was that he had to refer to him as a saint in his sermon, The
day of the funeral, the preacher got up and said: “This man was a
drunk, he was a cheat, he was thief, but in comparison to his brothers he
was a saint.”
This Capitol Report is a weekly
newsletter by Representative Cynthia
Davis, from the 19th
District, covering events in the Missouri Legislature and district-wide
issues.
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