Opinion ID: 2539248
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Missouri's Law of Standing

Text: Missouri courtsunlike the federal courtshave a long history of allowing taxpayers as taxpayers to bring challenges to the use of public funds that are claimed to be unlawful or unconstitutional. Newmeyer v. Missouri & Mississippi Railroad, 52 Mo. 81 (1873). Missouri courts allow taxpayer standing so that ordinary citizens have the ability to make their government officials conform to the dictates of the law when spending public money. Ste. Genevieve Sch. Dist. R-II v. Bd. of Aldermen of City of Ste. Genevieve, 66 S.W.3d 6, 11 (Mo. banc 2002) (citing State ex rel. Nixon v. Am. Tobacco Co., Inc., 34 S.W.3d 122, 133 (Mo. banc 2000)). A taxpayer has standing to challenge an alleged illegal expenditure of public funds, absent fraud or compelling circumstances, if the taxpayer can show either a direct expenditure of funds generated through taxation, an increased levy in taxes, or a pecuniary loss attributable to the challenged transaction of a municipality. Id. at 10 (citing E. Mo. Laborers Dist. Council v. St. Louis County, 781 S.W.2d 43, 47 (Mo. banc 1989)). It is irrelevant that the challenged expenditure may produce a net gain. . . . Taxpayers must have some mechanism of enforcing the law. E. Mo. Laborers, 781 S.W.2d at 47. See also Tichenor v. Mo. State Lottery Comm'n, 742 S.W.2d 170, 172 (Mo. banc 1988) (allowing a taxpayer to challenge the state lottery commission's decision to use commission funds to participate in a multi-state lottery). The principal opinion resorts to the dictionary definitions of the words direct expenditure of funds generated through taxation. Piecing together individual definitions, the majority comes up with the following definition: a sum paid out, without any intervening agency or step, of money or other liquid assets that come into existence through the means by which the state obtains the revenue required for its activities. But by parsing these definitions, the majority cobbles together a definition of the phrase that seems to support the proposition that transferable tax credits are direct expenditures of the state's liquid assetsmoney that is due in taxes. This shows that if you are looking for meaning, the dictionary is not necessarily the place to go, especially if the definition you piece together defies common sense.