LEGAL GUIDANCE FOR MISSOURI REFUNDS

Missouri's state auditor, Margaret Kelly, has consistently fought to make sure taxpayers received every dime of refunds promised by the voter-approved Hancock Amendment, which caps the growth in state revenue.

Kelly has filed lawsuits to obtain the legal opinions of the state's highest courts to guide the refund process. All the while, the attorney general's office has sided against the auditor's office, making for an interesting conflict between two elected state officeholders.

One lawsuit still hanging questions whether or not the $2 fee gamblers pay to board riverboat casinos should be counted as state revenue. A $1 fee was approved by voters, but the gaming commission later changed it to $2. Is a fee a tax? Voter-approved tax increases are exempt from Hancock limits.

This is the same $2 fee, which contributes to $80 million a year in revenue from riverboat fees, that the gaming commission says isn't enough to pay for highway patrolmen stationed on every riverboat. But that's another lawsuit.