SS#2/SCS/HCS/HB 1854 - This act modifies provisions regarding political subdivisions. AUDITS OF COUNTY OFFICES (Section 29.230)
Under current law, the State Auditor is permitted to conduct performance audits when performing an audit of a county office. This act prohibits the State Auditor from conducting a performance audit when conducting an audit in a third class county not initiated pursuant to a petition if:
1. The county commission has adopted a resolution electing not to be subject to such an audit; and
2. The county has undergone an audit by a certified public accountant within the preceding two years.
The county commission is required to send the resolution and audit report to the State Auditor.
These provisions are identical to SB 615 (2020).
POLITICAL RESTRICTIONS FOR CERTAIN STATE EMPLOYEES (Section 36.155)
Under current law, any individual holding a position of state employment that is subject to the State Personnel Law is also subject to various restrictions on participating in political activities, including running for partisan political office. This act provides that any state employee that is not subject to the Merit System (Section 36.030) or the Uniform Classification and Pay System (Section 36.031) may run for the nomination, or as a candidate for election, to a partisan political office.
These provisions are identical to CCS/SCS/SB 631 (2020) and substantially similar to SB 321 (2019).
MISSOURI LOCAL GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE DATABASE (Section 37.1090 through Section 37.1098)
This act establishes the "Missouri Local Government Expenditure Database". The database shall be available free of charge on the Office of Administration's website and shall include information about expenditures made during each fiscal year that begins after December 31, 2022.
The database shall include the following information: the amount of the expenditure; the date the expenditure was paid; the vendor to whom the expenditure was paid, unless such information is confidential; the purpose of the expenditure; and the municipality or county that made or requested the expenditure.
A municipality or county may choose to voluntarily participate in the database. Each municipality or county participating in the database shall provide electronically transmitted information to the Office of Administration biannually as provided in the act.
Additionally, if 5% of the registered voters in a municipality or county request to participate, the municipality or county shall participate in the database. Residents may request participation by submitting a written letter by certified mail to the governing body of the municipality or county and the Office of Administration. After receiving the requisite number of requests, a municipality or county shall begin participating in the database, but is not required to report expenditures incurred before one complete 6 month reporting period.
The Office of Administration shall provide financial reimbursement to any participating municipality or county for actual expenditures incurred from participation in the database.
These provisions are identical to HB 1933 (2020).
COUNTY REGULATION OF COUNTY PROPERTY (Section 49.266)
Currently, the county commissions in all non-charter counties are authorized to promulgate regulations concerning the use of county property. This act authorizes the county commission in all first, second, third, and fourth classification counties to promulgate such regulations.
Additionally, please note that Section 49.266 appears twice in this act because it is doubly-enacted due to the Cole County Circuit Court decision in Calzone v. Koster, et al. (2016). This act repeals the version enacted by SB 672 (2014) and amends the version in effect prior to SB 672 (2014).
These provisions are identical to SB 747 (2020), SB 464 (2019), HB 1269 (2018), and HB 1210 (2017).
WARRANTS FILED BY COUNTY CLERKS (Section 50.166)
Under current law, a county clerk may transmit in the form of a warrant the amount due for a grant, salary, pay, and expenses to the county treasurer.
This act provides that, upon request, the county treasurer shall have access to any financially relevant document in the possession of any county official for the purposes of processing a warrant. If the warrant is received in the absence of a check, then the county treasurer shall have access to the information necessary to process the warrant.
Additionally, no official of any county shall refuse a request from the county treasurer for access to or a copy of any document in the possession of a county office that is financially relevant to the salaries of county officers and assistants. No county treasurer shall refuse to release funds for the payment of any properly approved expenditure.
These provisions are substantially similar to SCS/SB 576 (2020).
2ND CLASS COUNTY CORONER SALARIES (Section 50.327)
Under current law, the compensation for non-charter county coroners is based on salary schedules established by law.
This act provides that, upon majority approval of the salary commission, the annual compensation of a non-charter county coroner of any county of the second classification may be increased up to $14,000 great than the compensation provided by the salary schedule established by law.
These provisions are substantially similar to SB 837 (2020).
COUNTY REVENUE VIOLATIONS (Section 54.140)
Under current law, any county treasurer or other county officer who fails or refuses to perform duties required of him or her under the law is guilty of a misdemeanor, shall be punished by a fine and, in addition to such punishment, his or her office shall become vacant.
This act repeals the provision that a county treasurer's or other county officer's office shall become vacant upon violation.
These provisions are substantially similar to SCS/SB 576 (2020) and similar to provisions of SB 53 (2019).
CANDIDATES FOR COUNTY RECORDER (Sections 59.021 & 59.100)
This act provides that each candidate for county recorder shall provide an affidavit to the election authority that indicates the candidate is able to satisfy the bond requirements under the law.
A recorder elected before January 1, 2021, shall have bond of no less than $1,000. A recorder elected after December 31, 2020, shall have a bond no less than $5,000.
These provisions are identical to HB 2368 (2020).
BOONE COUNTY PROPERTY MAINTENANCE AND NUISANCE CODES (Section 64.207)
This act authorizes Boone County to adopt property maintenance regulations and ordinances as provided in the act. The unavailability of a utility service due to nonpayment is not a violation of the property maintenance code.
Under this act, the property maintenance code must require the county commission to create a process for selecting a designated officer to respond to written complaints of the condition of a rented residence that threaten the health or safety of the tenants. When a written complaint is filed, the owner of any rental residence must be served with a notice specifying the condition alleged in the complaint and state a reasonable date by which abatement of the condition must commence. If work to abate the condition does not commence as determined by the designated officer, the complaint shall be given a hearing before the county commission. If the county commission finds that the rented residence has a dangerous condition that is harmful to the health, safety, or welfare of the tenant, the county commission shall issue an order that the condition be abated. If the owner violates an order issued by the county commission the owner may be punished by a penalty, which shall not exceed a Class C misdemeanor.
These provisions are identical to HCS/HB 2336 (2020).
COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING EXPENSES(Section 64.805)
Currently, members of the county planning commission may be reimbursed for meeting expenses up to $25 per meeting. This act increases the reimbursement amount to $35.
These provisions are identical to SB 731 (2020) and SB 326 (2019).
CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT SALES TAX (Sections 67.730 & 94.838)
This act makes technical corrections to provisions of law authorizing Clay and Platte counties to propose a capital improvement sales tax.
This provision is identical to HB 1746 (2020).
Current law authorizes the City of Lamar Heights to levy a sales tax of up to 2% on retail sales of food at cafes, cafeterias, lunchrooms, or restaurants for the purpose of funding the construction, maintenance, and operation of capital improvements. This act allows such sales tax to be levied at a rate not to exceed 6% and allows the revenues to be used for general revenue purposes.
This provision is identical to a provision in SB 770 (2020) & HB 2180 (2020).
CERTAIN TAXING DISTRICTS (Section 67.1545, 238.207, 238.235, & 238.237)
Current law authorizes community improvement districts (CIDs) and transportation development districts (TDDs) to impose a sales tax on purchases made within such districts if approved by a majority of voters living withing the district. This act requires such sales taxes to be approved by a majority of the voters of the municipality in which the district is located. Additionally, current law authorizes TDDs to charge and collect tolls or fees for the use of a project if approved by a majority of voters within the district. This act requires such tolls or fees to be approved by a majority of voters within the municipality in which the TDD is located.
These provisions are identical to SB 646 (2020).
EARLY CHILDHOOD SALES TAX (Section 67.1790)
This act allows Greene County and any city within the county to impose a sales tax, upon approval of a majority of the voters, not to exceed one-fourth of one percent for the purpose of funding early childhood education in the county or city.
This provision is identical to SB 770 (2020) and HB 1480 (2020).
TRANSIENT GUEST TAXES (Sections 67.1011, 67.1360, 94.842, & 94.1014)
This act authorizes the City of Butler to submit to the voters a transient guest tax not to exceed 6% of the charges per occupied room per night. The vote shall occur on a general election day not earlier than the 2022 general election. This provision is identical to SB 704 (2020).
This act adds the City of Cameron to the list of cities authorized to propose a transient guest tax for the promotion of tourism.
This act authorizes the City of Springfield to submit to the voters a transient guest tax not to exceed 7.5% of the charges per occupied room per night. Such tax shall be used solely for capital investments that can be demonstrated to increase the number of overnight visitors.
Upon approval by the voters, the city may adopt rules and regulations for the internal collection of the tax, or may enter into an agreement with the Department of Revenue for the collection of the tax.
These provisions are similar to SCS/SB 770 (2020), SB 387 (2019), HB 1073 (2019), and to a provision contained in SS/SCS/SBs 46 & 50 (2019), SCS/HCS/HB 674 (2019), and SCS/HB 761 (2019).
This act authorizes the City of Ashland to submit to the voters a transient guest tax not to exceed 5% of the charges per occupied room per night. Such tax shall be used for the promotion of tourism, growth of the region, economic development, and public safety, as described in the act. (Section 94.1014)
This provision is identical to SB 770 (2020) and HB 1601 (2020).
APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS OF BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS IN FOURTH CLASS CITIES (Section 79.235)
If a statute or ordinance authorizes the mayor of a city of the fourth classification with no more than 2,000 inhabitants to appoint a member of a board or commission, any requirement that the appointed person be a resident of the city shall be deemed satisfied if the person owns real property or a business in the city.
If the board to which a person is appointed is for the purpose of managing a city's municipal utilities, then any requirement that the appointed person be a resident of the city shall be satisfied if the following conditions are met:
1) The board has no authority to set utility rates or to issue bonds;
2) The person resides within a 5-mile radius of the city limits;
3) The person owns real property or a business in the city;
4) The person or the person's business is a customer of the public utility that is owned and operated by the city; and
5) The person has no pecuniary interest in, or is not a member of, any other utility of the type managed by the board.
These provisions are identical to SCS/SB 725 (2020) and similar to HB 1602 (2020).
PUBLIC SAFETY SALES TAXES (Sections 94.900 and 94.902)
This act adds the cities of Clinton, Lincoln, Branson West, Cole Camp, Hallsville, Kearney, Smithville, and Claycomo to the list of cities and villages authorized to levy a sales tax upon voter approval for the purposes of improving public safety.
These provisions are similar to SCS/SB 770 (2020), SB 873 (2020), HB 1701 (2020), HB 1309 (2020), HB 1726 (2020), and HB 1731 (2020).
FINANCIAL REPORTS OF POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS (Section 105.145)
Under current law, any transportation development district having gross revenues of less than $5,000 in a fiscal year for which an annual financial statement was not timely filed to the State Auditor is not subject to a fine.
This act provides that any political subdivision that has gross revenues of less than $5,000 or that has not levied or collected sales or use taxes in the fiscal year for which the annual financial statement was not timely filed shall not be subject to a fine.
Additionally, if failure to timely submit the annual financial statement is the result of fraud or other illegal conduct by an employee or officer of the political subdivision, the failure shall not be subject to a fine if the statement is filed within 30 days of discovery of the fraud or illegal conduct.
If the political subdivision has an outstanding balance or fines at the time it files its first annual financial statement after January 1, 2021, the Director of Revenue shall make a one-time downward adjustment to such outstanding balance in an amount that reduces the outstanding balance by 90%. If the Director of Revenue determines a fine is uncollectible, the Director shall have the authority to make a one-time downward adjustment to any outstanding penalty.
The Director of Revenue shall initiate the process to disincorporate a political subdivision if such political subdivision has an outstanding balance for fines or penalties and fails to file an annual financial statement as provided in the act. A resident of a political subdivision may file an affidavit with the Director of Revenue with information regarding the political subdivision's failure to report.
The question of whether a political subdivision may be subject to disincorporation shall be submitted to the voters of the political subdivision as provided in the act. Upon the affirmative vote of a majority of voters in the political subdivision, the Director of Revenue shall file an action to disincorporate the political subdivision in the circuit court with jurisdiction over the political subdivision. The circuit court shall enforce such orders and carry out remedies as provided in the act. Additionally, the Attorney General shall have the authority to file an action in a court of competent jurisdiction against any political subdivision that fails to comply with this act.
FILING PERIOD FOR CANDIDATES IN POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS (Section 115.127)
Under current law, the period for filing a declaration of candidacy in certain political subdivisions and special districts is from 8:00 a.m. on the 16th Tuesday prior to the election until 5:00 p.m. on the 11th Tuesday prior to the election.
This act changes that period to 8:00 a.m. on the 17th Tuesday prior to the election until 5:00 p.m. on the 14th Tuesday prior to the election.
These provisions are identical to SB 815 (2020), SB 402 (2019), and substantially similar to HB 595 (2019).
SENATORIAL DISTRICT POLITICAL PARTY COMMITTEES (Section 115.621)
Under current law, the members of each senatorial district political party committee are required to meet on the Saturday after each general election for the purpose of electing members to the state political party committee. In lieu of that requirement, this act permits the chair of the congressional district committee where the senatorial district is principally located to call for a meeting to be held concurrently with the election of senatorial officers.
These provisions are identical to SB 854 (2020) and HB 1853 (2020).
USE OF PUBLIC FUNDS IN ELECTIONS (Section 115.646)
This act prohibits the contribution or expenditure of public funds by any school district or by any officer, employee, or agent of any school district to:
• Support or oppose the nomination or election of any candidate for public office;
• Support or oppose the passage or defeat of any ballot measure;
• Any committee supporting or opposing candidates or ballot measures; or
• For paying debts or obligations of any candidate or committee previously incurred for the above purposes.
Any purposeful violation of this act is punishable as a class four election offense.
These provisions are similar to SB 802 (2020).
PROPERTY TAX ASSESSMENT NOTIFICATIONS (Section 137.180)
For property tax assessments, current law provides that assessors shall notify property owners of an increase in the property owner's assessed valuation by June 15. This act requires such notifications in St. Louis County to include information regarding the assessment method and computation of value for such property and, for properties valued using sales of comparable properties, a list of such comparable properties and the address or location and purchase prices from sales thereof that the assessor used in determining the assessed valuation of the owner's property.
This provision is identical to SB 547 (2020).
PROPERTY TAX APPEALS ATTORNEY FEES (Section 138.434)
Current law allows certain counties and St. Louis City to reimburse taxpayers who successfully appeal a property tax assessment to the State Tax Commission for appraisal costs, attorney fees, and court costs, with such reimbursements limited to $1,000 for residential appeals and the lesser of $4,000 or 25% of the tax savings resulting from the appeal for other non-residential appeals. Beginning January 1, 2021, this act increases such limits for St. Louis County to $6,000 for residential appeals and the lesser of $10,000 or 25% of the tax savings resulting from the appeal for other non-residential appeals.
This provision is identical to SB 547 (2020).
TAXATION OF PARTNERSHIPS (Section 143.425)
This act requires taxpayers in a partnership to report and pay any tax due as a result of federal adjustments from an audit or other action taken by the IRS or reported by the taxpayer on an amended federal income tax return. Such report shall be made to the Department of Revenue on forms prescribed by the Department, and payments of additional tax due shall be made no later than 180 days after the final determination date of the IRS action, as defined in the act.
Partners and partnerships shall also report final federal adjustments as a result of partnership level audits or administrative adjustment requests, as defined in the act. Such payments shall be calculated and made as described in the act. Partnerships shall be represented in such actions by the partnership's state partnership representative, which shall be the partnership's federal partnership representative unless otherwise designated in writing.
Partners shall be prohibited from applying any deduction or credit on any amount determined to be owed under this act.
The Department shall assess additional tax, interest, and penalties due as a result of federal adjustments under this act no later than three years after the return was filed, as provided in current law, or one year following the filing of the federal adjustments report under this act. For taxpayers who fail to timely file the federal adjustments report as provided under this act, the Department shall assess additional tax, interest, and penalties either by three years after the return was filed, one year following the filing of the federal adjustments report, or six years after the final determination date, whichever is later.
Taxpayers may make estimated payments of the tax expected to result from a pending IRS audit. Such payments shall be credited against any tax liability ultimately found to be due. If the estimated payments made exceed the final tax liability, the taxpayer shall be entitled to a refund or credit for the excess amount, as described in the act.
The provisions of this act shall apply to any adjustments to a taxpayer's federal taxable income or federal adjusted gross income with a final determination date occurring on or after January 1, 2021.
This provision is identical to HCS/SB 676 (2020), SCS/SB 704 (2020), SCS/SB 220 (2019), is substantially similar to HB 477 (2019), and is similar to SB 897 (2018).
BALLOT LANGUAGE RELATING TO LOCAL USE TAX (Section 144.757)
This act modifies ballot language required for the submission of a local use tax to voters by including language stating that the approval of the local use tax will eliminate the disparity in tax rates collected by local and out-of-state sellers by imposing the same rate on all sellers.
This provision is identical to SB 652 (2020) and identical to a provision contained in SCS/SB 189 (2019), SS/SCS/SBs 46 & 50 (2019), SS/HCS/HB 255 (2019), SCS/HCS/HB 674 (2019), and HB 701 (2019).
DISSOLUTION OF CERTAIN COUNTY HOSPITAL DISTRICTS (Section 205.202)
This act provides that, upon the dissolution of a county hospital district in Ripley County levying a sales tax for the purpose of funding the district, the sales tax shall be automatically repealed and twenty-five percent of the funds remaining in the special trust fund shall be distributed to the county public health center and seventy-five percent shall be distributed to a federally qualified health center located in the county.
These provisions are identical to SCS/SB 616 (2020) and HB 2376 (2020).
FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT DIRECTOR (Section 321.015)
Currently, a person cannot hold any lucrative office or employment under this state or a political subdivision and hold the office of fire protection district director. This act creates an exception to this prohibition for employees of law enforcement agencies.
This provision is identical to SCS/SB 775 (2020) and substantially similar to HB 2266 (2020).
ATTENDANCE FEES FOR BOARD MEMBERS (Section 321.190 & 321.603)
This act further modifies the attendance fee for a board member attending a board meeting from $100 to $150 for board members of districts in both non-charter and charter counties.
This act also repeals provisions that prohibit a member from being paid more than one attendance fee if such member attended multiple meetings in certain time periods and, in its place, authorizes board members to be paid for attending not more than one meeting per calendar week.
These provisions are identical to SCS/SB 775 (2020) and substantially similar to HB 2266 (2020).
BOUNDARIES OF FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICTS (Section 321.300)
Under this act, if one or more fire protection districts serve any portion of a city with a charter form of government located in a county with a charter form of government with a population of 900,000 or more inhabitants which has a municipal fire department, the boundaries of either district may be expanded so as to include areas within the city into the boundaries of the fire protection district, but shall not expand beyond the city limits of such city as it existed on July 1, 2020.
Such a change in the district boundaries shall be accomplished if the governing body of the city files with the board of any such fire protection district a written consent for the board to seek approval of the circuit court for an extension of the district's boundaries to the registered voters of the area.
If a majority of the voters voting on the proposition vote in favor of the extension of the boundaries of the district, then the court shall enter an order declaring the extension of the boundaries of the fire district to be final and conclusive.
Additionally, these provisions are identical to SCS/SB 775 (2020) and substantially similar to HB 2726 (2020).
FIRE PROTECTION SALES TAXES (Section 321.552)
Current law authorizes ambulance and fire protection districts in certain counties to propose a sales tax at a rate of up to 0.5%. This act allows such districts to propose a sales tax of up to 1.0%.
This provision is identical to SB 770 (2020), SB 869 (2020) and HB 2386 (2020).
CIVIL ACTIONS BROUGHT BY INMATES IN COUNTY JAILS (Section 506.384)
Currently, offenders under supervision or in the custody of the Department of Corrections may not bring a civil action against the Department unless all administrative remedies are exhausted. This act also prevents inmates or detainees in county jails from bringing a civil action until all administrative remedies are exhausted.
These provisions are identical to SB 833 (2020).
RECORDS OF MUNICIPALLY OWNED UTILITIES (Section 610.021)
This act adds individually identifiable customer usage and billing records for customers of a municipally owned utility, unless the records are requested by the customer or authorized for release by the customer, to the list of records that may be closed under the Sunshine Law. A municipally owned utility shall make available to the public the customer's name, billing address, location of service, and dates of service provided for any commercial service account.
These provisions are substantially similar to HB 1953 (2020) and SB 828 (2020), HCS/HB 1098 (2019), and SCS/SB 453 (2019).
MISSOURI WORKS PROGRAM (Section 620.2005 & 620.2010)
This act modifies the Missouri Works program to provided that, for qualified military projects, the benefit shall be based on part-time and full-time jobs created by the project.
These provisions are identical to SB 1057 (2020).
TARGETED INDUSTRIAL MANUFACTURING ENHANCEMENT ZONES ACT (SECTION 620.2250)
This act establishes the "Targeted Industrial Manufacturing Enhancement Zones Act".
This act allows any two or more contiguous or overlapping political subdivisions, as defined in the act, to create targeted industrial manufacturing enhancement (TIME) zones for the purpose of completing infrastructure projects to promote economic development. Prior to the creation of a TIME zone, each political subdivision shall propose an ordinance or resolution that sets forth the names of the political subdivisions which will form the zone, the general nature of the proposed improvements, the estimated cost of such improvements, the boundaries of the proposed TIME zone, and the estimated number of new jobs to be created in the TIME zone. The political subdivisions shall hold a public hearing prior to approving the ordinance or resolution creating the TIME zone.
This act allows the zone board governing the TIME zone to retain twenty-five percent of withholding taxes on new jobs created within the TIME zone to fund improvements made in the TIME zone. Prior to retaining such withholding taxes, the zone board shall enter into an agreement with the Department of Economic Development. Such agreement shall specify the estimated number of new jobs to be created, the estimated average wage of new jobs to be created, the estimated net fiscal impact of the new jobs, the estimated costs of improvements, and the estimated amount of withholding tax to be retained over the period of the agreement. The Department shall not approve an agreement unless the zone board commits to the creation of a certain number of new jobs, as described in the act.
The term of such agreement shall not exceed ten years. A zone board may apply to the Department for approval to renew any agreement. In determining whether to approve the renewal of an agreement, the Department shall consider the number of new jobs created and the average wage and net fiscal impact of such new jobs, and the outstanding improvements to be made within the TIME zone, the funding necessary to complete such improvements, and any other factor the Department requires. The Department may approve the renewal of an agreement for a period not to exceed ten years. If a zone board has not met the new job creation requirements by the end of the agreement, the Department shall recapture the withholding taxes retained by the zone board.
The zone board shall submit an annual report to the Department and to the General Assembly, as described in the act.
No political subdivision shall establish a TIME zone with boundaries that overlap the boundaries of an advanced industrial manufacturing (AIM) zone.
The total amount of withholding taxes retained by TIME zones under this act shall not exceed $5 million per year.
This act shall sunset on August 28, 2023, unless reauthorized by the General Assembly.
These provisions are identical to HCS/SS#2/SCS/SB 594 (2020) and SCS/HB 1700 (2020).
MARY GRACE BRUNTRAGER