By Emily Younker
Globe Staff Writer
CARL JUNCTION, Mo. —
The City Council on Tuesday moved to accept a settlement of $4,625.70 from T-Mobile to recover unpaid business license taxes.
The city was indirectly part of a lawsuit filed in 2005 in St. Louis County Circuit Court in which several municipalities across the state claimed that wireless and cellular telephone operators, such as T-Mobile, were subject to their telephone taxes just as land-line phone companies were. In Carl Junction, that tax is about 5 percent.
The settlement with T-Mobile was filed at the end of June in St. Louis County Circuit Court. City Attorney Mike Talley said T-Mobile is one of the last telephone companies to agree to a settlement.
The city must submit its claim form by Sept. 14. Final approval of the settlement by the court system should come by October, Talley said.
The $4,625 sum covers taxes owed before September 2008, Talley said. Once the settlement is formally approved by the court system, an additional $7,380 that is being held in a restricted account will be released to the city to cover taxes owed after September 2008, he said.
Talley said the plaintiffs’ lead attorneys were aided by the Missouri Municipal League, a statewide, nonprofit organization that promotes cooperation among cities. The organization has suggested that portions of each settlement go to it for compensation.
The council has given a portion of some, but not all, of its settlements to the organization and had the option on Tuesday to do so again.
But members, on a motion by Councilman Mark Powers, voted not to give the organization a percentage of the settlement.
“I like MML; they do good work for us,” Powers said. “But with the economic conditions we have right now, we need to keep the money right here in Carl Junction.”
The motion was approved 6-0; council members Dee Lynn Davey and Wayne Smith were absent.
Other settlements
The city already has received settlements from Verizon, AT&T Mobility, Sprint Nextel and Alltel.
