Oct 12, 2020
Updated: Jun 29, 2022
In the June Municipal Issue Report, we detailed new legislation from the 2020 Regular Legislative Session. One of the bills passed by both houses of the Legislature, however, HB 1854 (relating to provisions affecting political subdivisions) was later vetoed by the Governor and did not become law. Therefore, please note the following:
Election candidate filing periods and dates provided in § 115.127 RSMo. remain unchanged.
Missouri Local Government Expenditure Database not established.
Certain changes to Economic Development Mechanisms and Entities rejected. HB 1854 would have increased the voter threshold required to establish a funding source for Community Improvement Districts and Transportation Development Districts, but that change was rejected by the Governor’s veto of HB 1854. Further, the Governor vetoed the Targeted Industrial Manufacturing Enhancement Zones Act, which would have authorized one or more contiguous political subdivisions to establish a Targeted Industrial Manufacturing Enhancement Zone (“TIME Zone”) to complete infrastructure projects to promote economic development of the region.
Residency requirements for board and commission appointments for small fourth class cities remain unchanged (even for small cities with a population under 2,000).
Annual Financial Report requirements remain unchanged. Forgiveness measures and downward adjustments for political subdivisions delinquent on submitting financial reports required by § 105.145 RSMo. were ultimately not adopted due to the veto of HB 1854.
Attendance fees and sales tax caps for fire protection districts and ambulance districts remain unchanged. Attendance fees for board members of a fire protection district director remain at $100 per session instead of the $150 amount proposed by HB 1854. Further, sales tax caps for fire protection districts and ambulance districts continue to be 0.5%, rather than the 1.0% cap proposed by HB 1854.
Certain municipal utility data and reports not expressly closed records under Sunshine Law. HB 1854 would have added another category (relating to certain customer utility bills and information) to the current 24 categories of closed records found in § 610.021 RSMo. However, given the veto of HB 1854, such records can only be closed if they otherwise meet the definition of any other records expressly authorized to be closed by statute.
The regular legislative session formally ended on May 27, 2020. The governor later called an Extraordinary Session beginning on July 27, 2020 to address certain matters relating to public safety. The 2020 Extraordinary Session concluded on September 16, 2020 and only two bills were passed into law, HB 46 (restricting the power of the City of St. Louis to impose residency requirements on certain municipal law enforcement personnel, beginning in 2023) and HB 66 (Creating the Pretrial Witness Protection Services Fund). HB 66 provides a funding mechanism, subject to appropriations, for law enforcement agencies to request financial assistance for the provision of housing and other resources to witnesses involved in criminal proceedings.