Attorney General Koster says City (Hermann) violates Hancock Amendment...

Attorney General Koster says Hancock Amendment protects taxpayers from unfair increased user fees

 Jefferson City, Mo. – As expected Wednesday, Attorney General Chris Koster filed a 'friend the court' brief which stated the Hancock Amendment does not allow cities to tack taxes onto “user fees” to avoid the 1980 constitutional amendment requiring a public vote.

The brief was filed in a case before the Missouri Supreme Court. Two Hermann businesses, Arbor Investment, Co., and CFV Plastics, along with two Hermann residents, are the plaintiffs/appellants in the case which was transferred from the Missouri Court of Appeals to the state's Supreme Court in September.
 Koster said his office filed a brief with that opinion on behalf of the offices of the Attorney General and the State Auditor.  State Auditor Susan Montee has released a number of audit reports that identified cities that she found collected excess utility charges that were then transferred to the general revenue of the cities for other uses. Among those were Marceline, Hermann, Salem, and LaPlata.

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