Reallocation of motor vehicle taxes began in 1979

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- While Amendment 3 foes point out that moving money out of general revenue and into transportation will leave less money to go around for other state agencies than otherwise would be the case, there is precedent for the action.

In 1979, voters by a nearly 3-to-1 margin ratified a constitutional amendment that transferred the first half of motor vehicle sales tax proceeds from general revenue and dedicated it to transportation. Amendment 3 would likewise shift the second half.

The earlier measure was placed on the ballot by a bipartisan legislative act co-sponsored by Democrat Ken Rothman of St. Louis, then-speaker of the House of Representatives, and Republican Russell Brockfeld of Warrenton, at the time the House minority floor leader.

Both said that it made sense for revenue from the sale of cars and trucks be used for transportation. However, Rothman said they proposed redirecting only half of the money due to concerns about taking too big a bite out of the general budget.

"At the time, we were really walking a tightrope," Rothman said. "If we took all of that money out of general revenue and put it in transportation, it would have hurt the budget."

Brockfeld said the same complaints Amendment 3 opponents are making today about transportation benefiting to the detriment of other departments were heard 25 years ago.

"Every special interest group was looking out for itself, and, I'll put it bluntly, education was probably the worst," Brockfeld said.

The mechanism they established for allocating the revenue, however, was quite different than currently proposed, which helped them overcome the opposition.

The 1979 amendment established a formula that gave counties and cities a combined 25 percent of the proceeds with the remainder going to MoDOT.

Amendment 3 would make no substantive changes to how the first half of the vehicle sales tax revenue is distributed.

While neither former lawmaker has taken a position on Amendment 3, they said supporters are making a mistake by not using the existing formula to allocate the second half of the vehicle taxes.

Brockfeld said he is concerned the bond proceeds would finance a handful of highway projects without providing benefits to the entire state.

Missouri Municipal League deputy director Richard Sheets said the executive board of his group, which lobbies on behalf of the state's cities, has endorsed Amendment 3.

"Project selection is a different issue," Sheets said. "That really wasn't a concern of the board."