Columbia City Council tables vote on whether to put public safety sales tax on August ballot

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) 

The Columbia City Council voted 4-3 on Monday night to table a decision that would have put a proposed 1% sales tax dedicated to public safety on the August ballot.

City staff has written an ordinance that would add a 1% general sales tax, with the revenue generated going solely to the Columbia Police Department and Columbia Fire Department. 

The goal of the ordinance is to help both departments increase staffing, cover facility upgrades, and buy new equipment. Specific priorities listed by the city under the proposed sales tax include: 

• Increase CPD staffing to 50 officers over four years
• Increase CFD staffing to 40 firefighters over four years
• Build a new Police Facility
• Purchase new police vehicles and equipment 
• Build two new fire stations with apparatus 
• Renovate three current fire stations
• Develop a police and fire technology plan
• Maintain competitive wages 

According to Monday’s council memo, the city estimates that the 1% sales and use tax dedicated to public safety will produce $38 million in revenue.  However, the ordinance needs voter approval during the 2026 August primary elections in order to go into effect. 

The city council must approve the ordinance as written during it's march 18th meeting in order to get in on the August ballot. If the City Council approves the ordinance as written, this question would appear on the ballot: 

"Shall the municipality of Columbia, Missouri impose an additional citywide sales tax at a rate of one percent, solely for the purpose of providing revenues to improve public safety for the city, which shall be limited to expenditures on equipment, salaries and benefits, and facilities for police and fire departments?"

The current sales tax rate for Columbia sits at nearly 8% (7.975%), with 4.2% coming from the state, 2% from the city, and 1.75% from Boone County. The 2% from the City of Columbia currently includes a 1% general sales tax, 0.5% transportation sales tax, 0.25% capital improvement sales tax and 0.25% park sales tax.

Boone County sheriff seeks similar ballot issue

A Monday press release from the Boone County auditor shows that Sheriff Dwayne Carey has also asked the Boone County Commission to consider putting a law enforcement sales tax increase on the August 2026 ballot.

“Dedicated sales tax revenue no longer keeps pace with the broader cost of public safety services across county government,” Auditor Kyle Rieman said. “Those pressures include the sheriff’s office, jail operations, the rising cost of housing inmates outside Boone County, juvenile services, prosecuting attorney, circuit courts and other related expenses — and the same squeeze is showing up in nearly every other county cost center.”

Boone County currently collects a 1/8-cent sales tax for law enforcement that brought in $5.76M in revenue in 2025, according to the release from the auditor.

The auditor’s release also acknowledges possible tax cuts, specifically to income tax by the state that could be placed on ballot as early as August.

“Rieman said that proposal is best understood not as a tax cut but as a tax shift, replacing a tax based on income with higher sales taxes everyone pays at the register,” the release says. “Rieman is asking city and county leadership to coordinate on timing, ballot language and the total cumulative burden on taxpayers, ideally placing any to take a coordinated approach to work together to consider responsible timing, ballot language, public messaging and the total burden on taxpayers.”