Tom: So, is it 'better' to use this Hancock proviso as a council candidate's campaign issue, or to sue the socks off the city, or maybe both?
Jim Hornaday ----- Original Message ---- From: Tom Martz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: missourilibertycoalition@googlegroups.com Sent: Thursday, October 23, 2008 11:13:02 AM Subject: I FOUND IT !!!! Thanks to Mark Wright for pointing me in the right direction. With the assessment of restaurant health inspection fees being my pet peeve since it was asked for I have been doing mountains of research to prove these fees cannot be voted on. This portion came from page 4 of the Hancock Amendment. I have highlighted the section which pertains to my contention. http://www.truman.missouri.edu/uploads/Publications/MLA%2049-2004.pdf Local government tax limit/voter approval Sections 16 and 22 impose the tax limit and voter-approval requirement on local governments. The general rule is that voter approval is required before any political subdivision can levy any "tax, license or fees" not authorized when the Amendment was adopted or increase the current levy above the level at the time of adoption. In addition, if the existing base of a tax, license or fee is broadened (such as by repealing a deduction or exemption), then the tax rate has to be reduced to yield the same amount as would have been received on the prior base. The Missouri Supreme Court, in Keller v. Marion County Ambulance District, 820 S.W.2d 301 (Mo. banc 1991), enunciated a five-part test to be used in determining what constitutes a "tax, license or fee": the time of the fee payment, the identity of the payer, whether the amount of the fee is affected by the level of goods or services provided to the payer; whether the government is providing the goods or services; and whether the activity has historically and exclusively been provided by the government. Id. at 304, fn 10. -- http://votetom4council.webs.com/ http://417-political-pundit.blogspot.com/ www.moliberty.org "lite a fire for a man he'll be warm for a day, lite the man on fire and he'll be warm the rest of his life". Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you! -Pericles (430 B.C.) In fact, there is a direct correlation between loyalty to one's spouse and the "trustworthiness, sincerity, honesty and strength of leadership" required to lead a nation. ~John Edwards~ "no cause is lost if there is but one fool to fight for it" ~Will Turner~ ~Pirate's of the Caribbean @ World's End~ Save your property rights www.mo-cpr.org http://www.radiofreeliberty.com --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ This is a Free Speech forum. The owner of this list assumes no responsibility for the intellectual or emotional maturity of its members. If you do not like what is being said here, filter it to trash, ignore it or leave. If you leave, learn how to do this for yourself. If you do not, you will be here forever. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
