Callaway County Sheriff Dennis Crane said Friday his office would like to have a special sales tax for law enforcement purposes but he thinks it's the wrong time to place the issue before county voters.
"We have a definite need for a special law enforcement sales tax in Callaway County, but based on the current economic situation we don't believe this year is the right time to ask the voters to approve such a tax. We talked about the issue today among our officers but we believe this just isn't a good time to ask the voters for a tax increase," Crane said Friday.
Ted Farnen, communications director for the Missouri Department of Revenue, said Friday 67 of the state's 114 counties have a sales tax earmarked for law enforcement purposes.
In Central Missouri many counties around Callaway have a law enforcement sales tax. They include Cole, Boone, Audrain, Camden, Cooper, Howard, Maries, Morgan and Osage.
"In 1984 a sales tax was approved in Callaway County to build the current law enforcement facility we have. That sales tax had a five-year sunset clause. I wish now that measure would have included a provision to allow a quarter of one percent to be earmarked for law enforcement purposes. But right now we don't have any earmarked sales taxes for law enforcement in Callaway County even though we certainly need it," Crane said.
Crane said the current county sales tax for general revenue was approved by voters in 2008.