MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. – The Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights didn’t collect sales tax for four years, a mistake that cost the public about $1.5 million.
The facility, which opened in 2019, is a partnership between the Blues, a non-profit called ‘St. Louis Legacy Ice Foundation,’ and the city of Maryland Heights. According to FOX 2’s partners at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, legacy chairman Dave Otto said a Maryland Heights employee told him not to collect sales tax because the facility is publicly owned.
Those tax dollars should have gone to the state of Missouri, St. Louis County, and the city of Maryland Heights. City officials say the rink started properly charging sales tax in October.