Jefferson City, Mo. -- State Auditor Tom Schweich says a review of Missouri's shows the amount of fees and taxes collected by the state fell by nearly $100 million in the last fiscal year. The news release below has more details.
Schweich Releases Report on Hancock Amendment
JEFFERSON CITY (March 29, 2012) – State Auditor Tom Schweich released a report on the Hancock Amendment to the Missouri Constitution today.
Because of the limited objective of this review, no overall rating is provided.
The Hancock Amendment imposes restrictions on the amount of personal income used to fund state government and the amount by which fees and taxes can be increased. The amendment effectively prohibits using more than 5.6 percent of Missourian's personal income to fund state government, absent a special vote of the people. A refund would be required if this percentage was exceeded.
The Hancock Amendment also requires voter approval before taxes or fees can be increased by the General Assembly beyond a certain annual limit. Based upon the calculation provided by the Office of Administration, Division of Budget and Planning, the relevant annual limit for fiscal year 2011 was $87.2 million.
For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2011, our review determined no refunds were due. In fact, total state revenue was approximately $4.0 billion under the refund threshold. In addition, the Office of Administration determined that net taxes and fees decreased by $98.1 million. As a result, our review concluded the state complied with these provisions of the Hancock Amendment.
To view the complete report, Citizens Summary and audit rating scale, visit: http://auditor.mo.gov/view.aspx?id=201225
