Missouri government's 2016 income didn't come close to the level triggering refunds to all taxpayers, State Auditor Nicole Galloway reported this week.
In the required annual review of the impact of the 1980 "Hancock Amendment" on state revenues and spending, Galloway's staff determined last year's revenues of $10.3 billion were approximately $4.1 billion under the refund threshold and, therefore, not enough to trigger refunds under the amendment's requirements.
The amendment - named for Springfield businessman Mel Hancock, who was the chief sponsor of the proposed changes to Missouri's Constitution, and later served four terms in Congress - includes language that limits the amount of Missourians' personal income that may be used to fund state government to no more than 5.6 percent - the percentage in 1981, the year after voters overwhelmingly approved the amendment.
The amendment also allows voters to approve tax increases above that percentage, and those increases are not counted in the formula used to determine the state's compliance with the amendment.
When "total state revenues," or TSR, come in above the limit, the state must refund the excess to taxpayers - and did several times in the 1990s.
However, Galloway's audit noted, "This revenue limit has not been exceeded since the (business) year ended June 30, 1999."
She added, "Over the last five years, the amount of TSR under the refund threshold has ranged from $3.6 billion to $4.1 billion."
Voters in 1996 amended the 1980 amendment to allow the Legislature to raise taxes by a limited amount without a statewide vote.
Originally $50 million, that amount goes up slightly each year, based on a calculation of either the percentage change in the personal income of Missouri from two years before the increase or 1 percent of TSR from the business year two years before the General Assembly's action - whichever is less.
Galloway noted that limit hasn't been exceeded since the change went into effect in 1996.