To find Shardell's portion of the cost, we need to add up the bills and then divide the total by 2.
The catering bill is $325, the venue bill is $250, and the DJ bill is $375.
So, the total cost of the bills is $325 + $250 + $375 = $950.
Since Shardell and Marsha agreed to split the cost in half, we need to divide the total cost by 2.
Therefore, Shardell's portion of the cost will be $950 / 2 = $475.
Now we need to calculate the state tax. The state tax is 9% of Shardell's portion, which is $475.
To find the tax, we multiply Shardell's portion by the tax rate:
$475 * 0.09 = $42.75 (rounded to two decimal places).
Finally, we add the tax to Shardell's portion to find the final cost:
Shardell's portion = $475 + $42.75 = $517.75.
Therefore, Shardell's portion of the cost will be $517.75.