HCS/SCS/SB 1209 - This modifies laws regarding taxes and fees. The Director of the Department of Revenue is required to justify any fee increases before the Joint Committee on Tax Policy before the increase can go into effect(Sections 21.810 and 32.400, RSMo). All counties are authorized to impose, upon voter approval, a sales tax of up to one-half of one percent for the purpose of funding the operation of public safety departments, including police and fire departments, and the communications of the public safety departments(Section 67.175). The City of Sugar Creek is authorized, upon voter approval, to impose a transient guest tax of at least two percent but not more than five percent on all occupied hotel, motel, and bed and breakfast inn rooms and campgrounds for the purpose of promoting tourism. The tax will not apply to charges for sleeping rooms paid by guests of not-for-profit hotels and motels(Section 67.1360). The City of Grandview, upon voter approval, to impose a transient guest tax of up to 5% on all occupied hotel and motel rooms for the purpose of promoting tourism (Section 94.271). The cities of Harrisonville and Raytown are authorized to impose, upon voter approval, a sales tax of up to one-half of one percent for the operation of public safety departments including compensation, pension programs, health care, employment of additional police officers, and additional equipment and facilities (Sections 94.900 and 94.902). The City of Waynesville may, upon voter approval, impose a transient guest tax of up to three percent on all occupied hotel and motel rooms to fund the construction, maintenance, and repair of a multipurpose conference and convention center (Section 94.1011). The act terminates eligibility for the income tax credit for the surviving spouse of a public safety official's property taxes paid on a homestead, upon a surviving spouse's remarriage (Section 135.090). The act authorizes an income tax credit, beginning January 1, 2008, of one hundred and eighty dollars for volunteer firefighters who complete at least twelve hours of any firefighter training program approved by the Office of the State Fire Marshal within the Department of Public Safety. If the firefighter completes at least thirty-six additional hours of training after the initial twelve hours of training, the firefighter may claim a three hundred and sixty dollar credit. The tax credit is not refundable but can be carried forward for four years (Section 135.610). The provisions regarding the income tax credit for volunteer firefighters will expire six years from the effective date. The act authorizes an exemption from the alternative fuel decal and tax requirement for historical vehicles powered by liquid petroleum or natural gas (Section 142.869). The requirement for certification by the Director of the Department of Natural Resources before a sales and use tax exemption applies when purchasing or leasing machinery, equipment, appliances, and devices used solely to prevent, abate, or monitor water or air pollution and any materials and supplies used in the installation, construction, or reconstruction of the machinery, equipment, appliances, and devices is removed (Section 144.030.2(14 and 15)). A state and local sales and use tax exemption is created for over-the-counter or nonprescription drugs when prescribed by a practitioner (Section 144.030.2(18)). The Show-Me Green Tax Holiday Act is established which, beginning January 1, 2008, authorizes a state sales and use tax exemption on the first fifteen hundred dollars paid per new product for energy efficient products purchased for personal use during a seven-day period. For 2008, the holiday will be in November; and beginning in 2009, the holiday will be held in April each year (Section 144.052). A state sales and use tax exemption is created for the purchase of any product costing six hundred dollars or less, purchased for a three-day period beginning on June 27, 2008 (Section 144.067). The Director of the Department of Revenue is required to establish and enforce reasonable sales and use tax rules and regulations to efficiently secure payment of and accounting for the state sales and use tax as imposed in Chapter 144 (Section 144.270). The definition of "commercial aircraft", as it relates to the taxation of aircraft, is modified by lowering the maximum certified gross take-off weight from 7,000 to 3,000 pounds (Section 155.010). Charter and first classification counties are authorized, upon voter approval, to impose a fee of up to seventy-five cents per month on every wireless telephone number to fund wireless enhanced 911 services (Sections 190.450 and 190.451). The act provides that property owners or the board of supervisors in levee or drainage districts can petition a court for re-adjustment of the assessment of benefits for some or all of the property in the district as identified in the petition. Drainage districts in St. Louis County are authorized to adopt an alternative procedure with respect to voting rights. All drainage districts are authorized to adopt an alternative procedure for the apportionment of installment taxes after a re-adjustment of the assessment of benefits (Sections 242.230, 242.500, 245.020, 245.105, 245.197, and 246.305). The counties of St. Charles and St. Louis may, upon voter approval, impose a sales tax of up to one percent on all retail sales for the purpose of funding services provided by the fire protection district (Section 321.227). The Jackson County drug court commissioner must be paid from the same judicial fund where all other drug court commissioners in the state are paid (Section 478.466). The act contains an emergency clause for the provisions regarding the sales tax holiday for June 2008. JASON ZAMKUS