CHUCK PIERCE CAMPAIGNS IN CAPE GIRARDEAU

State auditor candidate Chuck Pierce said Friday he would side with the taxpayers when it comes to Hancock Amendment tax refunds.

Pierce, deputy state auditor for the past five years, hopes to succeed retiring state Auditor and fellow Republican Margaret Kelly.

During a visit to Cape Girardeau, Pierce suggested that Democratic opponent Claire McCaskill wouldn't be in the same corner with taxpayers when it comes to the Hancock Amendment.

When she was a state legislator, McCaskill voted to repeal the Hancock Amendment, Pierce said.

Pierce, who was born in Cape Girardeau and raised in the tiny Bootheel farming community of Gideon, has worked for the auditor's office since 1981.

He visited Cape Girardeau Friday to raise money for his campaign.

Pierce said Gov. Mel Carnahan's administration consistently has overtaxed Missourians and refused to push large enough tax cuts to avoid the continuing cycle of tax refunds.

He said the state budget office repeatedly has under estimated the revenue growth in state government.

Missouri has exceeded the Hancock revenue limit by over $1 billion since 1995, Pierce said.

"They have set about a pattern to continue to over tax Missourians and then give them refunds," Pierce said.

It costs the state about $1 million to process a single round of tax refunds, he said.

Pierce accused the Carnahan administration of playing budget games in holding up spending for campus construction projects across the state.

Twenty-eight capital projects on college campuses are on hold while Kelly's lawsuit over tax refunds winds its way through the courts.

The funding on hold includes $5.6 million for construction of Southeast's new polytechnic building.

The total tab for the idled projects is $129.3 million.

Mark Ward, the state budget director, has said the funding was put on hold in case the state has to refund an additional $120 million as the state auditor's office has argued.

The auditor's office has argued that the state's share of riverboat casino admission fees should be counted as part of total state revenue, which would have a bearing on Hancock tax refunds.,

Pierce said the state still could proceed with the capital projects and use ongoing revenues for the refunds.

He accused the Carnahan administration of trying to "make us a scapegoat for doing our job."

Pierce once again stressed the fact that he is a certified public accountant. McCaskill, his opponent, isn't a CPA.

Pierce said it is important for the state auditor to have an accounting background.

"I think most Missourians want their elected officials to know how to do the job," he said.