Court Opinion

ID: 9783668
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-30 19:56:14.894022+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:35:29.837634
License: Public Domain

LAURA DENVIR STITH, Judge,
concurring.
I concur in the analysis of the majority opinion that the plaintiffs do not have standing under current Missouri law regarding taxpayer standing, under which “[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.” Ste. Genevieve Sch. Dist. R-II v. Bd. of Aldermen of City of Ste. Genevieve, 66 S.W.3d 6, 10 (Mo. banc 2002) (citing E. Mo. Laborers Dist. Council v. St. Louis County, 781 S.W.2d 43, 47 (Mo. banc 1989)). I also concur that this is not the case in which to consider whether that test should be modified. Neither of the parties has requested or briefed such a modification, appellate courts are not advocates and, generally, issues not raised by the parties will not be addressed. See Kline v. City of Kansas City, 334 S.W.3d 632, 640 (Mo.App.2011).
Nonetheless, because of the importance of this issue, were this issue dispositive I would be in favor of asking for supplemental briefing about whether a different test should be applied in light of the fact that the Court’s rules for taxpayer standing *679were established without consideration of tax credits and that strong arguments can be made that the taxpayer standing test should be expanded to allow a taxpayer to challenge an illegal tax credit because the policy for allowing taxpayer standing would be the same for tax credits as it is for direct expenditures of public funds generated through taxation.
I agree with Judge Wolff, however, that the tax credits at issue here constitute an expenditure of public funds for a public purpose and, therefore, are valid. Accordingly, there is no reason to require additional briefing and argument in this case, for the result would be the same regardless whether this Court were to modify the test for taxpayer standing.
For these reasons, I concur in the majority opinion and in the portion of the concurring opinion of Judge Wolff that concludes that the tax credits constitute a valid expenditure of public funds for a public purpose.