Sales Tax

Sales Tax Collections

By state law, sales taxes are collected at the point of sale by the seller (business) and remitted to the State Department of Revenue, The state distributes those revenues to St. Louis County for distribution to the City, or directly to the City.

Sales Taxes That Impact Webster Groves

Numerous different government entities and/or functions have sales taxes collected on purchases in Webster Groves. The sales tax rate chart highlights all of the taxes collected on purchases.

There are certain sales taxes that are collected and deposited into the City as revenue. 

  1. 1 cent Pooled Sales Tax (see below for pool sales tax info) 
  2. ¼ cent local option sales tax
  3. ½ cent public safety sales tax (County Prop P)
  4. ¼ cent fire protection sales tax
  5. ½ cent capital improvement sales tax
  6. ½ cent parks and stormwater sales tax 

Sales Taxes As City Revenues

Sales Tax revenues are the City's largest revenue stream. In Fiscal Year 2022, sales tax revenues totaled $9,344,690.99. This was 33.71% of all City revenues and 34.98% of General Fund revenue. 

The below chart highlights total Sales Tax collections from Fiscal Year 2018 through the budgeted estimates for Fiscal Year 2023.

A graph of City Sales Tax in Fiscal Years 2018 to 2023

City Sales Tax Presentations & Meetings

Information and presentations from relevant meetings to the issue of sales taxes will be posted here.

GFOA Revenue-Related Materials

These resources are from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA)

Sales Tax Rate

The total sales tax rate in Webster Groves, effective since April 1, 2019, is 9.238% as detailed in the chart.

SALES TAX RATES (as of April 1, 2019)
AGENCYPURPOSERATE
State of MissouriGeneral Fund3.0000%
Education 1.0000%
Conservation0.1250%
Park and Soil0.1250%
TOTAL4.225%

St. Louis CountyGeneral Fund (Shared)1.000%
Transportation1.000%
Regional Parks Trails0.1000%
Children's Services0.2500%
Emergency Communications0.1000%
Prop P (Public Safety)0.5000%
TOTAL2.950%

Webster GrovesGeneral Fund (Shared)0.2500%
Fire0.2500%
Parks & Stormwater0.5000%
Capital Improvement (Shared)0.5000%
TOTAL1.5000%

OthersMetrolink0.2500%
Arch Initiative (rounded)0.1880%
Zoo0.1250%
TOTAL0.5630%

TOTAL SALES TAX9.238%


Note: A small area of the City contains a Transportation Development District and an additional .625% sales tax applies to that area only. 

Click here for the print version of the sales tax rates

Webster Groves and the St. Louis County Sales Tax Pool

About the County Sales Tax Pool

St. Louis County collects a 1 cent sales tax that is shared via a pool arrangement with the municipalities of the County. The pool contains cities which retain the sales tax they collect at point-of-sale (POS) and cities that share the entire tax that they collect into the pool. 17 cities retain the vast majority of their sales tax collection as Type A Cities. 15 more cities are Type A/B cities and have areas of territory where sales tax is retained by the city and other areas of territory where collections are added to the pool. 58 cities, designated Type B cities, and the unincorporated areas of St. Louis County deposit all sales tax revenues collected into the pool.  Webster Groves is a Type B city.

Once the pool revenue is collected, it is distributed to the Type B Cities and County by a per capita population calculation.

County Tax Pool Benefits Webster Groves

During the course of Fiscal Year 2022 (July 2021 to June 2022), local sales tax collections in Webster Groves - meaning sales tax collections on sales within the City limits - amounted to $2,641,158. These funds were deposited in the County sales tax pool.

The pool returned to the City a net sales tax revenue of $3,592,655, a gain of $951,947 over the natural sales tax collection in the City. Since its inception, the county pool has greatly benefitted the City of Webster Groves. 

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City Designations for the St. Louis County Sales Tax Pool

TYPE A CITIES (17)TYPE B CITIES (58)
BerkeleyBella VillaMoline Acres
BrentwoodBellefontaine Nbrs.Normandy
ClaytonBelleriveNorthwoods
Cool ValleyBel-NorNorwood Court
EdmundsonBel-RidgeOakland
FrontenacBeverly HillsPagedale
LadueBlack JackPasadena Hills
MaplewoodBreckenridge HillsPasadena Park
MarlboroughCalverton ParkPine Lawn
OlivetteChampRiverview
OverlandCharlackSt. Ann
Richmond HeightsChesterfieldSt. John
Rock HillClarkson ValleySycamore Hills
ShrewsburyCountry Club HillsUniversity City
Twin OaksCountry Life AcresUplands Park
Warson WoodsCrystal Lake ParkVelda City
Woodson TerraceDellwoodVelda Village Hills
Type A/B Cities (15)
FergusonVinita Park
Ballwin
Flordell HillsVinita Terrace
Bridgeton
FlorissantWebster Groves
Crestwood
Glen Echo ParkWellston
Creve Couer
GlendaleWestwood
Des Peres
Grantwood VillageWilbur Park
Ellisville
Green ParkWildwood
Eureka
GreendaleWinchester
Fenton
Hanley Hills
County
Hazelwood
Hillsdale
Unincorporated Portions of St. Louis County
Kirkwood

Click here for a print version of this list
Manchester
Jennings
Pacific
Kinloch
Sunset Hills 
Lakeshire
Town & Country
Mackenzie
Valley Park
Maryland Heights