Two Proposals That Could Eliminate 85% Of Mdc Funding If Passed

[Flysmallie]

How much did the department of Ag spend on their Governor's convention at TanTara? Sawyer Brown was their entertainment. Talk about a waste of time, just a bunch of people that think they are better than everyone else.

Come to think of it Sawyer Brown may have paid the state so they could play?

[fishinwrench]

A positive fishing experience. Forced on 18000 inner city kids that couldn't care less.

Meanwhile "kids fishing day" around here is locally funded and happens twice every year, is attended by kids that WANT to, and gets zero a$$i$tance from MDC.

[bs1827]

My God!

$11.11 per child!!

Outrageous!!!

SHUT IT DOWN!!! NOW!!!!

Wrench was right along!!

[Chief Grey Bear]

A positive fishing experience. Forced on 18000 inner city kids that couldn't care less.

Meanwhile "kids fishing day" around here is locally funded and happens twice every year, is attended by kids that WANT to, and gets zero a$$i$tance from MDC.

Maybe it was you that wort that article.

Sounds like the same false information FORCED on the readers.

[Old plug]

All levels of goverment waste money. Someone I know got over $1,000,000 for a project that never happened. Then when that person tried to return the money to the dept of the government responsible the goverment office that was suppose to do the project went bananas because he even suggested it. So the people sat there for almost a year doing something they were not suppose to do to use up the money for doing something they should have been doing.

Bet it was chief. Either a editor or the reporter himself with a ax to grind. Isn't that what all the news people do just about now. I do not think there is much free press left in this country that solely reports news. They tend to create new more thanreport it.

[Al Agnew]

MDC gets a hair under 3% of the sales taxes collected in MO, and DNR gets a little over 1%. It's not like MDC is getting the lion's share of the sales tax. 71% of the sales tax goes into general revenue, 25% goes into education. Of course, the sales tax is only one way the state gets tax money. The state of Missouri spends something like $25 billion a year. MDC spends around $150 million a year. Or, to put it another way, MDC's budget is about 0.6% of the total state budget.

And by the way...Missouri's sales tax rate is the lowest of all the states surrounding it. It's not like we're paying an exorbitant tax rate, and it's not like the little piece we're paying to fund MDC is making that tax rate high.

Ya think the rest of state government is not spending on some things that seem crazy?

The sales tax money makes up a bit under 60% of MDC's revenue each year. It has not been keeping up with inflation. (Permit sales make up 20%, federal tax money from sales of hunting and fishing gear bring in 15%.)

So...what if the 1/8th cent sales tax was repealed completely out of the state sales tax? MDC would lose 60% of their funding instantly, and the state wouldn't get anything. What if the state sales tax remained the same but none of it went to MDC? MDC would lose 60% of their funding instantly, and the state would be able to spend a bit over a half a percent more money than they are spending now on whatever.

Could MDC somehow make up the shortfall? Let's say that wasteful and unnecessary programs make up 10% of what MDC spends. Cut all of them out, and they'd be looking at a 50% shortfall. The legislature allocates zero money to MDC, and no way that would change. Only way to make up that 50% or a significant part of it would through permit sales. Permits now make up 20% of the total revenue and would have to become 75% to make up the whole shortfall minus the 10% of alleged waste. So permits would have to go up somewhere between 3 and 4 times what they are now. Wanna spend $70 on your hunting and fishing license? Another $70 on your archery deer permits? Etc...

Or would you rather pay a penny on every $8 you spend now that's subject to the sales tax?

Don't think this couldn't happen. Did you know that the original vote for the sales tax got less than 50% in nearly all the Ozark counties? Less than 30% in 11 Ozark counties? Got less than 50% in the majority of outstate north MO counties? In fact, only passed in 13 counties surrounding Kansas City, 6 counties around St. Louis, in Springfield, Columbia, and Cape Girardeau, and in 4 other counties. It got no more than 60% even in the counties that went for it.

[fishinwrench]

Maybe it was you that wort that article.

Sounds like the same false information FORCED on the readers.

. I knew that'd fire you up.

I don't give two hoots what or how they spend their excess money, I just know that I am gonna go postal if they start gating off accesses that have already been paid for. Future "maintenance and liability insurance" be dammed.

Maybe some of that excess cash should go into a trust to ensure future use of the accesses in the event they do receive a funding cut someday.

And if doing so means a little less plush digs for their meetings then I'm certainly OK with that, and they should be too. Have the shindigs at one of their Nature centers !

Nothing lasts forever dammit !

However, I would accept a return of .02 - .08% (or whatever it is) of every dollar I've spent in Missouri if they'd like to start barricading places. Fair is fair. No ?

[ness]

All levels of goverment waste money. Someone I know got over $1,000,000 for a project that never happened. Then when that person tried to return the money to the dept of the government responsible the goverment office that was suppose to do the project went bananas because he even suggested it. So the people sat there for almost a year doing something they were not suppose to do to use up the money for doing something they should have been doing.

Would like more information on this project ASAP. Thanks in advance.

[ness]

Maybe some of that excess cash should go into a trust to ensure future use of the accesses in the event they do receive a funding cut someday.

Good one! Set a little aside for a rainy day. Pure genius! That out to scoot right through the legislature without a hitch.

[Gavin]

$11.11 per child isn't very good analysis. I'm not familiar with that programs budget, but I'd bet that that most of it gets spent on payroll & benefits for the MDC staff members who administer that program.