BENTON, Mo. -- Herman Morse was elected to serve the unexpired term as state representative of the 151st district in a special election Nov. 7 and in Stoddard County a use tax was approved by voters 1,118 to 831.
Morse, a Republican candidate, collected 1,557 votes while Democrat Curtis Clark finished with 602 votes and Libertarian Rick Vandeven added 51.
The 151st district includes Stoddard County and portions of Scott County.
Morse was the top vote getter in Scott County with 123 votes. Clark and Vandeven finished with 76 and 18 respectively.
A special election for the position was called for after the seat became vacant in June following Republican Tila Hubrecht's resignation so she could return to her previous job as a nurse.
Stoddard County currently has a one-cent sales tax in place to fund county government. There are no property taxes levied by the county.
The Missouri Supreme Court ruled in March 2012 that a sales tax could not be levied on vehicles and other motor vehicles purchased out of state. The state moved to continue collection of that tax revenue until 2016, but required each local entity to put the use tax on the ballot and have it approved by taxpayers.
Gov. Jay Nixon signed an extension of the tax until 2018, but again required local voter approval. If it failed to pass, then no county tax would have been collected on purchases of out-of-state vehicles, boats and equipment in 2019.
The use tax also applies to internet purchases from out-of-state vendors. The tax proposition does specify who would be required to pay the use tax. "A use tax shall not be required to be filed by persons whose purchases from out-of-state vendors do not in total exceed two thousand dollars in any calendar year."
County voters rejected a county use tax in April 2013 by a 1,238 to 1,491 vote.