Osage Beach Lacks Spending Reports for New Marijuana Tax | The Locally Times
Eight months after collections began, public records do not show how much revenue the voter-approved 3% marijuana tax has generated or how it has been spent on designated public safety and parks services.
OSAGE BEACH — In April 2023, voters in Osage Beach approved a new 3% sales tax on adult-use marijuana, with the resulting revenue designated for specific public services. More than eight months after the city began collecting the tax, however, public records detailing how much money has been raised and how it has been spent are not available. This absence of documentation leaves residents and officials without a public accounting of the funds, making it impossible to verify that the money is being used for the purposes voters approved. The city began collecting the tax on October 1, 2023. This voter-approved mandate created a direct link between the new tax and the funding of essential community functions. The city’s own documentation establishes that the funds were not intended for general, unspecified use, but were instead promised for the enhancement and operation of these particular departments. City records state that sales tax receipts are transferred from the State of Missouri to the city in the second month following consumer purchases. Based on this two-month lag, the city should have received seven months of revenue since collections began. Despite this, no public documents show the total amount of revenue generated by the tax. The page explains the purpose of the marijuana tax and states that the provided reports represent both the 1% General Fund local sales tax and the 3% marijuana sales tax. An analysis of the city’s public-facing documents shows no reports detailing the collection or expenditure of the marijuana tax. The total revenue collected since October 1, 2023, is not stated in any available public record. Furthermore, no budget documents or financial statements have been published that itemize expenditures from this tax, leaving the public unable to track the flow of money from collection to its designated purpose. This information gap means that basic questions about the tax’s performance and administration cannot be answered through the public record. Records do not specify how much revenue the tax generates monthly or annually, nor do they show if any of the funds have been allocated to the parks or public safety departments as specified in the 2023 ballot measure. ## The Accountability Question The designation of the marijuana tax revenue for the General Fund makes transparent reporting critically important. When new tax revenue is placed into a general fund, it can become commingled with other city revenues, making it difficult to track unless it is meticulously accounted for through separate line items and dedicated spending reports. Without such reports, there is no way for the public to ensure the funds are not simply absorbed into the city’s overall budget to cover other expenses. The lack of reporting breaks the chain of accountability established when voters approved the tax. Residents supported the measure based on the promise that the funds would directly benefit parks and public safety. Without access to spending records, they cannot hold city officials accountable for that promise. The core purpose of a special-purpose tax is undermined if its implementation cannot be publicly audited. The absence of data prevents any meaningful oversight. It is impossible to know if the revenue is meeting initial projections, whether it has funded new police equipment, supported ambulance operations, or paid for park maintenance. The story of the tax revenue ends the moment it is collected, with no public trail to show where it goes next. ## Fulfilling the Mandate To fulfill the promise made to voters, the city would need to publish detailed financial reports. These reports must include, at a minimum, the total 3% marijuana tax revenue collected to date and a clear, itemized breakdown of all expenditures from those funds. This would allow residents to see exactly how much money was allocated to the Police Department, the 911 Communications Center, the Ambulance Service, and parks and recreation. Until the City of Osage Beach releases comprehensive revenue and spending data for its voter-approved marijuana tax, the public remains in the dark about the financial impact and execution of the program.