If you like that Missouri’s state parks don’t charge an entrance fee, or that the Katy Trail through Rocheport is free to walk any day of the year, thank a sales tax you’ve probably never noticed at the register.
Missouri’s Parks, Soils and Water Sales Tax — one-tenth of one cent on every taxable dollar spent in the state — comes back before voters Aug. 4 as Amendment 1. It isn’t new money and it isn’t a rate hike; it’s the same tax voters have renewed every ten years since 1984, and if it fails this time, it expires in 2028.
What it actually pays for
The tax raises roughly $168 million a year, split evenly. Half goes to the Soil and Water Conservation program, which works through 114 county districts and has helped keep more than 194 million tons of topsoil out of rivers like ours since the program began. The other half goes straight to Missouri State Parks — Missouri State Parks says it covers roughly three-quarters of the park system’s budget, funding free admission, upkeep on about 2,000 structures, and maintenance across 1,000 miles of trail. That’s the money that keeps the limestone graded and the trailheads open on the Katy Trail stretch that runs right past Rocheport.
Why it’s on the ballot at all
The Department of Natural Resources traces the tax back to 1984, when the state had one of the worst soil-erosion rates in the country and some parks had begun installing gates to charge admission. DNR director Kurt Schaefer put it plainly to ABC 17: “Parks were starting to install gates to charge an entrance fee.” Voters have said yes every decade since — most recently in 2016, when about 80% approved it.
What happens if it doesn’t pass
If Amendment 1 fails Aug. 4, the tax winds down by 2028, and state park funding would have to compete for space in Missouri’s general revenue budget — the same pool that covers schools, prisons, and Medicaid. ABC 17 reports entrance fees would likely return to parks that currently don’t charge them.
It’s on the same Aug. 4 primary ballot as the Boone, Cooper, and Howard county races already on local voters’ minds — one more line to look for at the polls or on an absentee ballot.
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