News – Friday, August 22nd 2025

The Missouri Department of Transportation crews will be seal coating three roads in Iron County next week: Route AA, Route O and Route M. They will be making driving surface improvements on Route O from Highway 21 to Iron County Road 2228 starting Monday at 7:00; Route AA from Highway 21 to the end of state maintenance scheduled to begin Tuesday morning at 7:00; Route M from Highway 21 to the end of state maintenance starting Tuesday morning around 11:00. Seal coats are a pavement repair process that is used by MoDOT on roads with lower traffic volumes to maximize available resources and extend the life of the roadway. Hot emulsion oil is sprayed onto the surface of the road, followed by finely ground rocks which are then compacted to adhere to the roadway.  Excess material is swept off the surface, leaving an improved roadway that will hold up longer against the elements. The method costs about one third the amount of a traditional asphalt overlay. The treatment keeps water from penetrating the surface, extends the life of the roadway up to seven years, and provides improved traction. The work zone will be marked with signs. Motorists are urged to use extreme caution while traveling near the area. For additional information, contact MoDOT’s Customer Service Center toll-free at 1-888-ASK-MODOT (1-888-275-6636), or visit www.modot.org/southeast.

Due to the passage of Senate Bill 28, purchasing a motor vehicle in Missouri will look different down the road in late 2026 or early 2027. The law will take effect August 28th, but the change to paying vehicle sales tax will only be implemented once the second phase of the Department of Revenue’s new FUSION system is operational. Once the system is in place, motor vehicle buyers – when purchasing through a dealership, will be required to pay sales tax at Due to the passage of Senate Bill 28, purchasing a motor vehicle in Missouri will look different down the road in late 2026 or early 2027. The law will take effect August 28th, but the change to paying vehicle sales tax will only be implemented once the second phase of the Department of Revenue’s new FUSION system is operational. Once the system is in place, motor vehicle buyers – when purchasing through a dealership, will be required to pay sales tax at the point of sale. If purchasing from a private party, buyers will continue to take their bill of sale to any Missouri license office to pay sales tax. In both scenarios, buyers will get a paper copy of their new license plate. The permanent metal plate, with the same number configuration, will be mailed to the buyer. Receiving a temporary tag will no longer be an option. Missouri Director of Revenue Trish Vincent said that this change to the way sales tax is collected will eliminate temporary license tags which rob the state of millions of dollars each year because of drivers who never pay their sales tax. Even though the law goes into effect on August 28th, the sales tax changes cannot take effect until the Department of Revenue’s new FUSION system is up and running. FUSION is an acronym for Fifty Unique Systems In One Nexus. Its purpose is to combine older mainframe systems and software applications that can no longer communicate with each other into one core system that will significantly increase speed and efficiency in performing motor vehicle and driver licensing functions. The first phase, which centered on driver licensing, was implemented on November 12, 2024. Vincent also said that this new law affects both the seller and the buyer. The DOR is going to work with dealers to get everyone trained on the new system and prepared to collect sales tax. Buyers will need to be ready to pay the full sales tax amount at the time of purchase. Until FUSION is fully operational, the current sales tax collection process will remain in effect for both dealerships and private vehicle purchases.