HB 1432 -- PORT AUTHORITIES

SPONSOR:  Flook

COMMITTEE ACTION:  Voted "do pass" by the Committee on Job
Creation and Economic Development by a vote of 15 to 0.

This bill changes the laws regarding port authorities.  In its
main provisions, the bill:

(1)  Authorizes every local and regional port authority to:

(a)  Establish a port improvement district;

(b)  Carry out certain specified projects;

(c)  Levy, upon voter approval, a sales and use tax, a real
property tax, or both within the boundaries of the district for
the purpose of paying project costs.  The sales tax must be
levied in increments of one-eighth of 1% but cannot exceed 1%;
and

(d)  Pledge all revenues generated by any district and any other
port authority revenue source to the repayment of outstanding
obligations;

(2)  Requires any matching grants awarded by the Highways and
Transportation Commission under the Port Capital Improvement
Program to be transportation related;

(3)  Authorizes a local and regional port authority that is a
political subdivision to issue revenue bonds to finance port
improvement projects; and

(4)  Establishes the Port Improvement District Act which allows a
port authority to establish one or more port improvement
districts within its boundaries for the purpose of funding
qualified project costs associated with an approved port
authority improvement project.  The bill specifies the procedures
for forming a district, the notification process of public
hearings, and the procedures for terminating a district.  The
bill also:

(a)  Requires the board of a port authority to submit an annual
report regarding the district's services provided and revenues
collected and expended during the fiscal year and specifies that
the report must be submitted to the municipal or county clerk and
the Department of Transportation within 120 days after the port
authority's fiscal year ends;

(b)  Authorizes the State Auditor to audit any port authority
within the state in the same manner in which any other state
agency is audited; and

(c)  Requires any expenditure that is more than $25,000 to be
competitively bid by the port authority.

FISCAL NOTE:  No impact on state funds in FY 2011, FY 2012, and
FY 2013.

PROPONENTS:  Supporters say that the bill provides the necessary
authority to establish port authority districts, which are
similar to a transportation development or community improvement
districts.  These districts will not work for a port authority
because they do not address the very specific needs of a port,
which has historical and environmental issues because it tends to
be in the oldest part of a city.  This is a tax that the owners
within the port impose on themselves, and the resulting revenue
will be used to improve the area.

Testifying for the bill were Representative Flook; Vincent P.
Gauthier, Port Authority of Kansas City and Missouri Port
Authority Association; Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry;
Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce; and City of Kansas City.

OPPONENTS:  There was no opposition voiced to the committee.

Missouri House of Representatives
95th General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session
Last Updated September 14, 2010 at 3:10 pm