Propositions A & Q

Propositions AQuatics: One Plan, Two Ballot Questions

The proposed Aquatic Center plan will appear on the ballot as two separate questions. Proposition A is how the Aquatic Center would be built. Proposition Q is the revenue source intended to repay the bonds without changing property taxes. Each proposition requires its own vote.

PROP. A

How It Gets Built

  • Prop. A would authorize the City to issue $34.5 million in general obligation bonds to finance construction of the proposed Aquatic Center.

  • Bond financing allows the City to spread the cost of construction over time rather than paying for the entire project at once.

  • General obligation bonds typically carry a more favorable interest rate than other forms of public borrowing.

  • In Missouri, general obligation bonds require voter approval.

Shall the City of Chesterfield, Missouri, issue its general obligation bonds in the amount of $34,500,000 for the purpose of reconstructing, renovating, improving, furnishing and equipping the City’s Aquatic Center?

Prop. A Ballot Language:

PROP. Q

How It Gets Paid For

  • Prop. Q would establish a local use tax on qualifying purchases from out-of-state and online sellers that are not already charged local sales tax.

  • The use tax would apply the same local sales tax rate already paid on purchases made at Chesterfield stores and restaurants.

  • It is not a double tax. A purchase would be subject to either the local sales tax or the use tax, never both.

  • Revenue from Prop. Q is intended to repay the Aquatic Center bonds without changing property taxes.

Shall the City of Chesterfield, Missouri impose a local use tax at the same rate as the City’s total local sales tax rate with the intent to commit such local use tax, subject to annual appropriation by the City Council, for purposes of paying general obligation bonds issued by the City for reconstructing, renovating, improving, furnishing, and equipping the City’s Aquatic Center and, if the City has no such general obligation bonds outstanding, for purposes of public safety, all subject to applicable state law, provided that if the City’s local sales tax rate is reduced or raised by voter approval, the local use tax rate shall also be reduced or raised by the same action?

Prop. Q Ballot Language:

Together, Props. A & Q make up one proposed Aquatic Center plan. Each appears separately on the ballot, and each requires its own vote.

What is the local use tax?

The use tax is a tax on purchases that never had the local sales tax added. If approved by voters, it would only apply to out-of-state and online purchases in Chesterfield that did not have a local sales tax attached. The state use tax already exists, this adds the local portion, which is the same rate as the sales tax.

  • Not a double tax. You pay either the local sales tax or the use tax, never both.

  • Levels the playing field so out-of-state sellers are taxed at the same rate as local businesses.

  • Mostly paid by businesses making large out-of-state purchases from sellers that don’t collect local sales tax.