JUDGE SAYS LAW GRANTS COMMISSION DISCRETION ON THE TOPIC
Platte County Circuit Court Judge Megan Benton on Tuesday entered a ruling in favor of the Platte County Commission in a lawsuit that challenged the commission’s decision to not follow the will of the voters in the quarter cent children’s services sales tax issue.
Benton ruled the law governing the ballot question on the quarter cent children’s services sales tax, which was approved by voters 56% to 44% in November, allows the county commission discretion to impose or not to impose the sales tax after voter approval.
In December, the county commission–citing the word “may” in the applicable state law–had unanimously voted not to levy the voter-approved tax.
The judge had heard arguments in the case in an approximate hour-long hearing on Monday morning before taking the matter under advisement, with county counselor Rob Redman arguing on behalf of the county and attorney Charles Hatfield for petitioners Greg Plumb and Tara Bennett. Benton’s ruling came down Tuesday afternoon.
In her seven-page ruling, Benton mentioned that the ballot question asked the public whether Platte County should be “authorized” to levy a sales tax of a quarter of one cent. “The definition of ‘authorized’ is to ‘give official permission for something to happen, or to give someone official permission to do something.’ This permissive language confirms the discretionary nature of the commission’s action,” the judge says in a portion of her ruling.
After the ruling was announced, Platte County Presiding Commissioner Scott Fricker told The Landmark: “We’re happy with the court’s decision and we will continue to fight for Platte County taxpayers whenever we have the opportunity.”
More on the ruling coming in the April 9 print edition of The Landmark.
