all things OLYMPIA: We're Speaking Out...Help Us, Help You!

Dear Olympiad Families,

As the owner of Olympiad Gymnastics, I would like to thank you for your patronage and support of Olympiad Gymnastics. Each one of you is an important part of our mission for the children of St. Louis; “Building Happy, Healthy, Confident Children”. Gymnastics teaches so many lessons beyond the physical; determination, respect for oneself and others, friendship, and teamwork are just a few skills that children practice in the gym and take with them when they move on to other dreams and challenges.

Olympiad Gymnastics is reaching out to our families for your help with an issue that affects us all. As you know, the State of Missouri decided to begin taxing instructional classes for children two years ago. Missouri is the only state in the nation that does so. We believe this is an unfair burden on the families that work hard to provide extracurricular activities for their children.

As a company that tries hard to do the right thing, we were forced to begin collecting sales tax on each class in our company in February of 2015 to stay compliant with Missouri state laws. For the time period that we have collected and passed through these sales tax monies, we have filed “Under Protest”, aligning with our belief that these additional taxes are unfair and harmful to the families of Missouri. During this time period, we have also worked with other gyms, our Representatives, and our Senators to overturn this ruling. After several other bills fell short of the mark, SB 1025 (a bill designed to exempt instructional classes from sales tax) passed unanimously in the Senate and near unanimously (134 – 7) in the House, before being vetoed by Governor Nixon, despite overwhelming support in the legislature.

SB 1025 will be back in the Missouri Legislature for an override vote on September 14, 2016, during the veto session. This is the only chance there is for this bill to be overridden. If it is not, the process will have to start from scratch in 2017, ensuring another year of unfair collection of sales tax on instructional classes.

Because this bill passed so overwhelmingly through the Legislature, we believe that there is a great chance the override vote will succeed. In order to be successful, a two thirds vote by both houses is required. If each Senator and Representative holds true to their original vote on the matter, the override vote will be a success - creating tax relief for Olympiad families and all Missouri families that participate in dance, gymnastics, martial arts, parkour/ninja, swimming, tennis, and other sports that require instruction.

This is where we would like to ask for your help. Beginning in the middle of August, we would like each Olympiad family to contact the Senator and Representative of the district their Olympiad Gymnastics gym is in, as well as the legislators in the district you live in, urging them to stay true to their original vote. We believe that if legislators hear from their constituents who are impacted by this sales tax ruling, they will hold to their original vote, which is all we need them to do to make the override vote a success.

Below, you will find a chart showing the Senators and Representatives for each gym, as well as a link that will take you to Open States, a website that enables you to type in your address and find out who your representatives are. On our website, you will find a sample script for the call, as well as links to the full text of the bill and other resources about this issue.

Beginning in August, each gym will have a form letter that you can fill out at the gym. We will collect these and mail them in batches to the appropriate representative.

Please join us in our efforts to encourage our elected officials to duplicate what they already have done – passed SB 1025 and lessened the tax burden on Missouri families.

Sincerely,
Ray Overmann
Owner, Olympiad Gymnastics