Opinion ID: 1762334
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: 1978 Amendments to Article VI Added Current Section 27 and Sections 27(a), (b) and (c).

Text: In 1978, members of each house of the General Assembly introduced similar but separate proposed amendments to article VI that repealed the pre-1978 version of section 27 and proposed a new constitutional section or sections addressing issuance of revenue bonds by municipalities. These proposed amendments were ultimately submitted to the voters at the November 1978 general election as constitutional amendments 6 and 7. Ashcroft, 642 S.W.2d at 618-19. The House proposal, amendment 7, was approved by the voters and is now article VI, section 27 of the Missouri Constitution. Ashcroft, 642 S.W.2d at 619, 621; Mo. Const. art. VI, sec. 27, RSMo 2000. [8] It requires approval by a majority of voters before a municipality or a joint board of cooperating municipalities may issue revenue bonds for utility plants to be owned and operated by the municipality or for manufacturing or industrial development plants to be leased or disposed of by the municipality. Mo. Const. art. VI, sec. 27. [9] The Senate proposal, amendment 6, was also approved and is now article VI, sections 27(a), 27(b) and 27(c) of the Missouri Constitution. Ashcroft, 642 S.W.2d at 618-19, 621. Section 27(a) requires voter approval before a municipality can issue bonds for municipally owned and operated revenue producing power plants, but section 27(b) authorizes a municipality's governing body to approve issuance of revenue bonds for a facility to be leased or otherwise disposed of to a private entity that would operate the facility for its commercial, manufacturing, warehousing, or industrial development purposes. Mo. Const. art. VI, sec. 27(a)-(b). [10] The question before this Court is whether section 27(b) authorizes the revenue bonds issued by Peculiar.