Conservation tax

The Missouri Department of Conservation operates on a nearly $134 million budget funded primarily by a one-eighth cent sales tax voters approved in 1976. While those funds have been used to build a department that is the envy of most states, there is no accountability over how the agency spends its money, other than the oversight of the governor-appointed Missouri Conservation Commission.

The sales tax creates a dedicated funding source for the department, and its spending decisions are made independently of the Missouri Legislature.

A proposed constitutional amendment would change all that, requiring voters to reapprove the sales tax in 2006 and vote again every 10 years. Such a situation already exists for the one-tenth cent sales tax for state parks and soil and water conservation.

Today Missouri has one of the best-funded conservation departments in the nation. More than 60 percent of the department's budget comes from the sales-tax revenue. Permit fees and federal funds provide the rest.

But does the department really need all the tax revenue to operate efficiently? In an era when other state agencies are making budget cuts, the conservation department's budget continues to grow.

Critics believe the earmarked sales tax funds a renegade agency that spends wastefully. Supporters say the tax is necessary to maintain a first-rate conservation program.

Accountability is crucial for the department. Voters would readily renew the tax if they felt it was funding worthwhile and necessary projects. The constitutional amendment warrants full consideration in the legislature.