MISSOURI WATCH: A HALF-BILLION HERE AND A HALF-BILLION THERE...

"The danger of morality," Plato once wrote, "is that it is sometimes useful as an excuse for immorality."

Paraphrasing the Greek philosopher, one could say a threat of fiscal stability is that it can occasionally be used as a reason to create financial instability.

A case in point is a proposal to create additional public debt in the state of Missouri with the issuance of $500 million in bonds to fill out a proposed three-year highway construction program. The idea of increasing the public debt of the state to meet an admitted need has been advanced by the Missouri State Highway and Transportation Department.

At this moment, few outside the Highway Department's gray headquarters building in Jefferson City have climbed on board this rush-to-completion proposal, although a great many persons should be forced to sign on before the public debt of Missouri is increased by more than half a billion dollars.

Reminding us of Plato's shrewd observation above, proponents of the plan suggest that their "solution" to a shortfall in a $2.6 billion road-building program will be easily accomplished since the state enjoys one of the highest, if not the highest, bond ratings among the 50 states. The argument goes something like this: because Missouri enjoys the most favorable rate possible, the bonds will experience less-than-normal difficulty in being approved and accorded a favorable rate. Some advocates have even accorded this scenario a credible reason for blindly rushing into a plan that, most certainly, will have to be retired from future state revenues.

The very real enthusiasm of the state road agency to build new roads and meet its earlier, long-term commitment to greatly improved highways in Missouri is both understandable and commendable. Taxpayers like to see public servants who are eager to serve their constituents and demonstrate a certain verge, if not vertigo, in pursuit of their duties. We can name other state departments that seem to have adopted a goal of providing a diminished degree of service to Missourians, so it is reassuring that our highway engineers not only want to do their job but want to expand their labors.

But the Highway Department has, in recent years, raised highway improvement hopes beyond reasonable expectations. A long-term plan that seemed to promise four-lane superhighways in most of the 114 counties of the state was a dream-come-true for most if not all of the chambers of commerce in Missouri. Everywhere one looked, the agency had proposed a million-dollar-a-mile divided highway, even in areas where local residents never before suspected one would ever be built.

Unfortunately for all of us, the dream was well beyond the point of reality, and soon the agency had no choice but to concede that earlier timetables were completely unrealistic and there were simply not enough dollars being printed to finance all of their miles and miles of promised concrete. A couple of accounting errors along the way didn't help, either, and the agency finally came to a construction cul de sac, with no choice but to put the whole thing in reverse.

Saving face is important for any agency that must deal not only with tax revenue shortfalls but the picayune nature of officials possessing the power to extend or withhold favors. All of us can regret the failure of the extended road plan to get off the drawing board, but this is hardly sufficient reason to begin increasing the public debt and perhaps jeopardize the future of even more imperative projects in years ahead.

Five hundred million dollars is not the entire figure we should be dealing with here. There's the little matter of interest on the bond indebtedness, a number that never gets enough publicity when bond issues are mentioned. One never gets the full cost to taxpayers of that beloved football stadium in St. Louis, which we are financing for the financial benefit of the owners of an NFL franchise from existing state revenues. But when we shift enough money from current tax funds to pay for the brick and mortar, we will find that we are also indebted for bond interest charges that nearly double the cost.

If the Highway Department gets permission to issue bonds for which every Missourian is responsible, then it should be noted the actual amount will not be $500 million, but much closer to $750 million when borrowing costs are added. This is an amount equal to all but three of the annual collections from existing tax levies.

But that's not all, not by a long shot. For years the state has issued bonds for state office buildings, certain types of equipment and leasehold improvements and other bureaucratic "necessities" that are now due and payable from current tax revenues. This is the way any state must operate, since its capital improvements are extensive, ranging from college buildings to mental hospitals to correctional institutions. Some of these capital requirements are essential, and some are considerably less so. But all fall victim to the great game of political favors, dispensed by mere politicians.

Bond issues have a way of hanging around like jobless relatives. We're still spending large sums to pay off a huge bond issue, promoted in the Christopher Bond administration, which became a back-scratching nightmare as legislators divided funds not on the basis of need but on the basis of political trade-offs. It was not one of responsibility's finer moments.

Repayment of the proposed road bonds will be made in part from savings to be implemented within the department. That's the claim being made. There are certain cost-cutting steps that can be taken to help repay these bonds, agency officials claim. Boy, if this is the case, let's start right now and begin accumulating money for a pay-as-you-go plan. Why does it take a bond issue to institute operational economies?

Let's think about this plan to add to the public's future tax load for projects that may or may not be absolutely essential and critical. If we had prudently paused in years past, we would now have the money for the highways we need.

~Jack Stapleton of Kennett is the editor of Missouri News and Editorial Service.