St. Louis County residents will head to the polls this August to decide whether to tax internet purchases.

Democrat County Executive Sam Page signed legislation Friday placing a “use tax” on the Aug. 4 ballot, a move supporters say will modernize the tax code and support local businesses.

“Saint Louis County residents will get to decide how we address the pressing budget challenges our community faces,” Page said in a statement.

Charlie Hinderliter with St. Louis REALTORS supports the use tax, saying it’s a “matter of fairness.” 

“Why should we incentivize folks to buy from someone who is not investing in real estate or people in St. Louis County? We think that’s just bad policy. This is really about modernizing the tax code,” Hinderliter said.

Not everyone on the St. Louis County Council was convinced the use tax would be the answer to the “pressing budget challenges.” 

Republican councilman and county executive candidate Dennis Hancock was a “hard no” during a recent vote on the use tax.

“I believe we need to demonstrate that we can effectively reduce spending in St Louis County before we start asking for more revenue,” Hancock said. 

“There’s more ways to reduce spending than just making cuts. We can add efficiency. We can do a lot of things differently … if we have a county executive that has some vision and has the ability to manage processes better than what we have today.” 

Democrat Councilwoman Shalonda Webb joined Hancock against the tax because it wasn’t clear what the new revenue money would be spent on.

“I think use tax is going to be a hard pill to swallow for our communities,” Webb said. “Having a general use tax that says everything will go to the general fund is concerning.

“Our community members will want to know exactly what this additional tax money, that they’re going to be paying, is going to go towards.”

Republican Councilman Michael Archer disagreed with both Hancock and Webb at a recent meeting.

“I think we’re past the point of no return, and I think we are out of time, and that we need to get this tax in place at this time. So, respectfully I disagree,” Archer said.

Democrat Councilwoman Kelli Bangert, who sponsored the substitute bill, said previous attempts to earmark the money for specific projects prevented the measure from reaching voters in the past. Bangert argued the council must be able to decide where funds go as challenges arise.

The release from Page’s office says the use tax could generate $50-$75 million annually if it’s approved by voters.

“The numbers I’ve seen thrown around indicate this could raise as much as $72 million in a year,” Hancock said in a recent meeting. 

“That won’t happen. If this is on the ballot in August, it’s not going to happen this year, and probably won’t happen next year; $72 million wouldn’t have filled the budget gap we were handed by the county executive last October. So, where are we going to come up with the rest of the revenue. We’ve depleted all the funds available to fill that gap.”

If Proposition U passes, the tax rate would be set at the same rate as the county’s existing local sales tax (2.263%).