FESTUS, Mo. (Nov. 5, 2025) Festus voters have rejected Proposition P, a proposal that would have imposed a local use tax matching the city’s existing 3% sales tax rate.

The measure failed in the Nov. 4 election, with 69.8% voting against it and 30.2% in favor.

Proposition P would not have increased the city’s sales tax rate but would have allowed Festus to apply its current 3-cent sales tax to online purchases, similar to sales taxes already paid at local stores. If the city’s sales tax rate were to change in the future, the use tax rate would have been adjusted accordingly.

Festus residents currently pay a combined sales tax rate of 9.35% on most purchases: 4.225% from the State of Missouri, 1.625% from Jefferson County, 3% from the City of Festus, and 0.5% for the Joachim-Plattin Ambulance District. The total food tax rate is 6.35%.

A state law that took effect in January 2023 requires out-of-state businesses earning more than $100,000 annually from Missouri sales to collect state sales taxes. However, that law applies only to state taxes. Local governments, including cities and counties, must receive voter approval to enact a local use tax on internet and out-of-state purchases equal to their sales tax rate.

With Proposition P’s defeat, Festus will continue without a local online use tax, leaving online purchases untaxed at the local level.

Paul Barnard Editor

Paul Barnard is the editor of the Twin City News. Barnard Graduated from Norwich University, America's oldest private military college, with a B.S. in Communications and Media Technology. There he studied journalism and marketing. For years after, Barnard was in law enforcement and gained experience in the Special Investigations Unit and publishing all the department's press releases. As Barnard's family grew, he moved on to start Twin City News.

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