Local ballot issues in the November general election
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Requests for more money for public safety lead the ballot in Boone and Cole counties, while school funding and other issues appear elsewhere in Mid-Missouri this November.
Below is a roundup of local issues on the ballot in each county.
Boone County
Voters throughout Boone County have a tough question to answer this fall -- whether to give the sheriff's office more money.
The City of Columbia just won approval for a public safety sales tax during the August election, and Boone County is hoping voters won't show tax fatigue in November. The county wants a 3/8-cent sales tax added on to the current 1/8-cent tax for law enforcement.
The money would be used to build a 570-bed jail, replacing the current 246-bed jail built in 1991. The sheriff says the county would end up saving money because of the current need to pay other counties ot take Boone inmates.
The tax would raise about $17 million per year.
Cole and Callaway counties
Jefferson City voters, a small portion of whom live in Callaway County, will also decide on a new public safety sales tax.
The city wants voters to approve a new quarter-cent tax to help fund police and fire. Without the money, city officials say the public safety budget would see a $400,000 shortfall in fiscal 2027.
Police and fire account for the largest portions of general fund departmental spending. The police department is budgeted for $14.1 million, or about 31%, while the fire department is budgeted for $10.8 million, or 23%. Public Works accounts for $8.4 million, or about 18.6%.
Camden County
Two fire districts in Camden County are seeking sales taxes that would provide property tax relief, as required by Missouri law.
The Gravois and Sunrise Beach fire districts each have a 1-cent sales tax on the November ballot. Those sales taxes come with a caveat: property taxes will be reduced annually by 50% of the previous year's sales tax revenue.
The Gravois district wrote in a Facebook post that voters rejected two financial measures in 2025, increasing the need for the new tax to keep operations at current levels. The district says jobs have been left vacant as the volume of calls has increased.
The Sunrise Beach district says it will use the money to replace aging equipment and build a new fire station and eventually increase the number of firefighters.
Gasconade County
The county has only one local issue on the ballot -- a question of whether to exempt homeowners age 62 and older from increases in property taxes on their primary residence.
Macon County
The City of Macon wants money to improve its water and sewer systems.
The city will ask voters to let it borrow $80 million to improve its combined water and sewer system. The cost would be paid for through utility revenue.
Morgan County
Voters in the Morgan County R-I School District will decide whether to raise the district's operating tax levy to $3.4846 per $100 of assessed value. The increase would last for up to 20 years and help pay to construct and renovate buildings, including an athletic complex.
Taxes will increase by about 19 cents per $100 of assessed value, the district wrote in an informational flyer about the tax. It would raise $3.7 million in new revenue.
In the City of Stover, voters will be asked to impose a local use tax equal to the sales tax rate of 2%. The money would go to roads, sidewalks, municipal buildings, police training and equipment, other public safety needs and matching funds for grants.
