TAX REFUNDS UNDER HANCOCK TO COST MISSOURI $1.4 MILLION

Last year, Missouri taxpayers welcomed news about tax refunds due under the Hancock Amendment.

But the refunds will be costly: The state will pay $1.4 million to issue them.

The state each year can collect only 5.6 percent of Missourians' combined personal income based on the two previous years. The formula was set out in the Hancock Amendment, added to the state constitution in 1980.

While 1995 saw extraordinary growth, 1993 flooding made Missourians lose money. The result was $147 million in overtaxation and a legally required refund.

It is going to cost taxpayers $1.4 million to get their money back, said Don Kling in the state treasurer's office. That's about 70 cents each for more than 2 million checks to be printed and mailed.

Mark Ward, the state budget director, estimated the average Missourian would receive $41 beginning in October. Individuals can determine their refunds by taking 5 percent of state taxes they paid in 1995.

Corporate refunds haven't been computed.

If income growth in the state continues on the same pattern, taxpayers may shell out another $1 million dollars or so to get refund checks next year. The Missouri General Assembly failed to pass any tax cuts this session to prevent the surplus.

"This doesn't necessarily have to happen every year," Ward said. "But if the projections on economic growth are correct, we will finish above the limit again."

State Sen. Peter Kinder of Cape Girardeau blamed Gov. Mel Carnahan and lack of cooperation between Democrats and Republicans for a failure to pass tax cuts. Kinder, a Republican, supported a proposed 2-cent cut on sales tax on food and wanted legislation that would triple the deduction for dependents.

Although his bill banning same-sex marriage passed on the last day of the legislative session, Kinder said the push to pass his bill didn't prevent discussion on tax cuts.

"Every time the same-sex marriage ban was discussed in the House and Senate, it only took about two hours," he said.

Gene Rose, House communications director, agreed that the legislature was deadlocked on tax cuts.

"We have 163 representatives and 34 senators, and there were probably that many reasons why an agreement wasn't reached," he said. "There were many good ideas that deserved discussion, but time ran out on us."

On May 16, the day before the state legislature adjourned, lawmakers succeeded in passing a measure to speed up this year's additional refunds. It clarified the part of the state constitution defining excess revenue and simplified the method of calculating returns.