Challenge Filed In LOTO Lodging Tax Case

Collections of the Lake of the Ozarks Lodging Tax being ruled by the Missouri Supreme Court as an unconstitutional scheme is not a dead issue…at least for right now.

The court entered judgement in late June on the case which had challenged, among other things, that the collected taxes were improperly being transferred from a public to a private entity before being spent, and that advisory boards set up were not comprised of publicly-elected board members.

There was a 15-day period following the judgement for any challenges to be filed and, according to KRMS sources, that filing has been submitted trying to get the issue back before the court for further consideration.

In the meantime, at least in Camden County, the collector has been instructed to keep collecting any of the lodging taxes being submitted until all options with the State Supreme Court are exhausted on the issue.