HANCOCK PROTECTS MISSOURI TAXPAYERS

That pesky Hancock Amendment keeps bothering the politicians in Jefferson City. Missouri's tax limitation amendment, adopted by the voters in 1980, requires that total state revenues not grow faster than personal income in the state, or refunds are owing to taxpayers. No governor had ever violated it before the current administration of Gov. Mel Carnahan.

With this tax-and-spend administration, we are in the third year of busting through this cap, with probably five more years of collecting too much revenue, at least, in the many hundreds of millions of dollars. Refunds that were due a couple of years ago have been tied up in court in a lawsuit that was argued in the state Supreme Court last week, and a decision should come soon.

Against this backdrop, Democratic leaders in the General Assembly last week proposed that all taxpayers would receive an income tax credit on the property taxes they paid. Democrats describe this as a $100 million tax cut. Although they presented no bill, they say when finished their proposal will also expand the so-called circuit breaker program, which provides property tax relief to middle- and lower-income senior citizens.

Any time Democrats start talking tax relief, it represents some progress, but Missourians will be forgiven for looking askance when the very folks who brought us Mel Carnahan's sharply higher property levies, from 1993 on, now propose to fix the problem they created. Moreover, inasmuch as no bill has been reduced to writing, it is difficult to evaluate the vague proposal. Is it just for one year, or would it be permanent relief?

The good news is that tax cuts have forced their way onto the agenda for the legislative session beginning Jan. 7, and other proposals will abound. Why not just get busy and repeal Mel Carnahan's tax increases, or at least the most onerous of them, starting with his gouging of those who used to legally deduct all their federal taxes on their state return?