Missouri Auditor Nicole Galloway says taxpayers are on the hook for billions of dollars in city project costs they didn’t approve.
A report from Galloway’s office yesterday claims a lack of oversight for community improvement districts, or CID’s, has allowed for spending decisions to be made without much taxpayer input.
CID’s are special taxing districts designed to fund development projects.
Galloway says Missouri needs to reform state law because local governments can form districts with vague purposes and time frames and can change their purpose after being established. She says that in the vast majority of CID’s, voters do not approve the additional taxes.
Galloway cited an example in Springfield where the public paid more than $225,000 in taxes after a project was completed. In another example, taxpayers paid over $75,000 for lawn and landscaping services to a company owned by a board chairman in Lee’s Summit near Kansas City.
The auditor’s report outlined recommendations to improve transparencies of CID’s.
Missourinet media partner KOLR-TV contributed this story
