County eyes tax on adult cabarets

March 16, 2008 09:25 pm

— By Wally Kennedy
wkennedy@joplinglobe.com
MOUNT VERNON, Mo. — Fearing that a proposed strip club that is being fought in Jasper County might wind up in Lawrence County, the Lawrence County Commission is asking voters on April 8 to endorse a special tax on adult cabarets to make it more costly for them to set up shop in the county.
Rodney Barnes, the county’s Western District commissioner, said the matter was put on the ballot by the commission in response to inquiries from an adult video mart on Interstate 44 at the Stotts City exit.
The commission is seeking permission to levy a special tax of 10 percent on a cabaret’s gross receipts. The taxation would last for a period not to exceed four years. The money would be used to investigate the backgrounds of the employees of the business and for general law-enforcement use of the Sheriff’s Department.
“(The owners of the adult video store) did approach us a few months ago about what they wanted to do,” Barnes said. “We told them we would need a health inspection on it with regard to their lagoon. We thought if they could see the cost, they would not turn it into a juice bar or adult cabaret.”
Barnes said the county’s health inspector provided “some pretty big numbers” with regard to modifications to the lagoon system for the wastewater from a cabaret.
“The cost was high enough that they backed off,” he said. “The last we heard, they were not going to do it.”
A spokesman for the business could not be reached for comment.
“But Jasper County was having such a battle, we decided if they can’t easily put them in Jasper County, they might look for counties that will be easier for them to be put in,” Barnes said.
The special taxation provision is part of a state statute that regulates health departments.
“There is a statute that permits us to do this, but only on a cabaret,” said Barnes. “We ought to try this because it appears to be a good deterrent. We are not welcoming those types of business into Lawrence County.”
The measure, if approved by voters, would put back to the voters again in three years. Barnes said a simple majority is needed for passage.
“What we are afraid of is that voters will think this a 10 percent tax on all of us,” he said. “It’s only for juice bars or cabarets.”
Barnes said the commission supports the concept of selective taxation with regard to this particular issue.
“We could be concerned about that, I guess, but we think we have got a statute that allows us to do it,” he said. “We are trying to deter that type of business. It is selective taxation. There is no other way of putting it.
“But we did some research and found that these businesses create a drain on the sheriff’s department and the health department. We wanted them to pay for the extra costs that this may bring to our county. That’s the way of justifying a special tax on a special business.”