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YELLOW SHEET Office of the State Auditor of Missouri |
Report No. 2000-18
March 22, 2000
The following is a review conducted by our office of Article X, Sections 16 through 24, Constitution of Missouri.
On November 4, 1980, the voters of Missouri passed Constitutional Amendment No. 5, which added Article X, Sections 16 through 24 to the Constitution of Missouri. The amendment, commonly referred to as the Hancock Amendment, requires that no greater portion of Missourians' personal income be used in any future year to fund state government than was the case in fiscal year 1981, except as authorized by a vote of the people.
The State Auditor's Office performs a review of the state's compliance with the provisions of the Hancock Amendment to verify the accuracy of the revenue limit computation performed by the Office of Administration, Division of Budget and Planning (OB-BP). The amount of the refund due to taxpayers for the year ended June 30, 1998 was $166,740,970. In addition, a total of $12,102,110 was also due to taxpayers from the prior years of 1995, 1996 and 1997. The state refunded the total of $178,843,080 to taxpayers in late 1999. The amount of the refund due to taxpayers for the year ended June 30, 1999 is $98,861,466.
On January 27, 1998, the Missouri Supreme Court entered a final decision in Kelly v. Hanson, et. al., 959 S.W. 2d 107 (Mo. 1998). This decision determined that taxes and other funds collected by the state may not be considered revenue in the context of total state revenue unless they meet a two-part test derived from an earlier judicial definition of revenue: (1) the funds must be received into the state treasury; and (2) the funds must be subject to appropriation.
On June 29, 1999, the Missouri Supreme Court entered a final decision in Conservation Federation of Missouri, et. al., v. Richard Hanson, et. al., 994 S.W. 2d 27 (Mo. Banc. 1999). This decision determined that Article IV, Section 43 (b) prohibits the disbursement of monies specified in that section for the purpose of making the refund required by Article X, Section 18, and that revenue derived from the one-eight of one percent sales tax imposed by Article IV, Section 43(a) is not includable in total state revenue.
