BOONE COUNTY - Nov. 28 is the last Cyber Monday in which the “Wayfair tax” and Proposition 1 won’t apply to Boone County residents.
Voters approved the taxes in April. The Boone County use tax imposes a 1.75% tax, the same as the county sales tax. Similarly, the Columbia use tax imposes a 2% tax on out-of-state online stores.
"The taxes really will level the playing field for online and local shop owners," Dave Griggs, a retired small business owner and co-chair of the Proposition 1 campaign, said.
Although online shopping can be cheaper, the loss in sales hurts businesses in the county. Griggs said he had first-hand experience with this gap between local and online vendors.
"It's very difficult to have a shopper come in, spend your sales people's time, look at our product, pick a product, and disappear," Griggs said. "It doesn't bother me near as much to have them going to my competitors because I know my competitors locally have the same overhead costs virtually with the building, employees and delivery services."
To combat this, people will pay 3.75% on all items bought online from out-of-state starting Jan. 1.
“This allows our mom and pop stores to compete with big out-of-state businesses,” Boone County District I Commissioner Justin Aldred said.
This year, Adobe expects Cyber Monday to generate $11.2 billion. As online shopping continues to grow, Aldred said the taxes are a victory for mid-Missouri businesses.
Lauryn Bailey owns a retail store in downtown Columbia. While she just started her business this year, Bailey said she plans to bring Bailey & Blush into the e-commerce world.
“I’m not sure when, but potentially next fall,” Bailey said. “It definitely goes hand in hand, but I wanted to jump into the brick and mortar first.”
Bailey said she prefers interacting face to face with her customers, but has dipped her toes into digital sales via Instagram.
“It’s more to show off and see what we have in store right now,” Bailey said. “But people are more than welcome to order things and DM [direct message] if they want to or put things on hold.”
Online vendors that do not have a physical store in the state aren’t required to report their sales back to Missouri or its counties. Aldred said this was a concern for officials in Boone County.
“Seventy-two percent of county operating revenues are derived from the local sales tax,” Aldred said. “For years, county-elected officials were worried about losing that, as we saw untaxed retail sales rise.”
With less reliance on the local sales tax, Aldred said the county expects to generate roughly $1.3 million in revenue from the Wayfair tax.
“I think it’s a big benefit for the county,” Aldred said.
That money generated from the tax will go toward roads, bridges, transportation, recreation and public safety improvements. Aldred said this will help people beyond Boone County.
“Nearly 20% of our Boone County roads and bridges budget goes out to our local municipalities,” Aldred said. “That’s incredibly important for Columbia, Rocheport, Ashland, and just all the way down.”
Both Griggs and Bailey said shopping local also supports the mid-Missouri community in other ways that big box stores don’t.
“I know I love supporting my community,” Bailey said. “Giving back and promos that donate to the community such as donating to the Big Brothers, Big Sisters here in Columbia.”
