Districts in Kansas City, Springfield, St. Louis areas did not submit required reports
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo (Feb. 1, 2017) Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway today issued her office’s monthly report detailing Transportation Development District (TDD) compliance with financial reporting laws. TDDs offer financial incentives through property and sales tax collections, with the intent of encouraging new transportation-related projects and funding transportation related maintenance and improvements in a specific area. State law requires TDDs to submit annual financial reports to the State Auditor’s Office within six months of the end of their fiscal year.
Out of more than 200 TDDs in Missouri, 25 have fiscal years that end in June, which means they are required to submit annual financial reports to the State Auditor’s Office in December. Of the 25 TDDs required to submit reports, five TDDs (20%) failed to comply.
“Investments that rely on public dollars must operate with transparency and full accountability to the taxpayers who ultimately pay the tab,” Auditor Galloway said. “Many of these projects do provide benefits to the public, but when the groups that manage these projects can’t meet mandatory deadlines to turn over basic financial records, there is less assurance that the money is being spent appropriately and in accordance with the law.”
The TDDS that did not submit required reports include the College Station TDD (Greene County), the Thirty-Ninth Street TDD (Jackson County), the Olive Boulevard TDD (St. Louis), the US Highway 36 Interstate 72 TDD (Macon, Marion, Monroe, Ralls and Shelby Co.), and the Washington Avenue TDD (St. Louis).
State law requires TDDs that fail to provide this information to pay a fine of $500 per day to the Department of Revenue, with the fine assessment beginning 30 days after the report is due.
A new 2016 law also required TDDs to submit their contact and board information to the State Auditor’s Office by the end of 2016. Of the 214 TDDs on record, 89 (42%) provided the required information.
Financial reports received by the State Auditor’s Office are searchable online. A copy of the monthly Transportation Development District report is available online here.
