LOOKING FOR $700 MILLION

A St. Louis lawmaker alleged recently that, over a period of years, the Missouri Department of Revenue has apparently misallocated $700 million in tax money. State Rep. Mike Reid, R-Hazelwood, said that, while researching ways to pay for MetroLink in 1994 when he was a member of the Senate, he stumbled across an apparent misreading of the Missouri Constitution. Reid lost his Senate seat in 1994 and was out of the Legislature for four years before winning a state representative race last year.

Reid said he has asked State Auditor Claire McCaskill to look into a shortage of $336 million in the school district trust fund since 1983 and the misallocation of $378 million in the highway and transportation fund. He believes the money was incorrectly placed in the general fund.

Reid said at a press conference that he didn't believe there was any fraud involved. He added that even though he called it to the department's attention in 1994, nothing was done about it. "I believe they initially made a mistake," Reid said. "And now they are sweeping it under the rug. Voters approved this and the Department of Revenue didn't keep faith with the voters."

In 1982, voters approved a 1 percent increase in the sales tax rate on motor vehicles. The increase, known as Proposition C, required that the department distribute the tax increase funds to the school district trust fund. Reid also believes Prop C should have increased the amount of funds allocated to highways and transportation. He says the department had allocated only half the revenue each year to the school district trust funds and had shorted the portion going to highways by about one-half of 1 percent each year.

A representative of the auditor's office says officials are looking into the matter to see whether Reid has a valid point and, secondarily, whether a full-blown audit is indicated. Right or wrong, Reid is to be commended for bringing this situation to light. He is one lawmaker who apparently reads the Constitution and takes it seriously. We await with interest the report of the state auditor.