Willis Requests Attorney General Opinion.

County Assessor Jim Willis has requested that State Representative Chuck Surface ask the State Attorney General to issue an opinion on the correct salary for First Class County Assessor in the absence of a Salary Commission holding a meeting or passing a timely resolution.

The request is in a letter to Surface from Attorney James F. DeNeen, representing Willis, and is as follows in its entirety:

"Dear Representative:

"A dispute as to the amount of salary to be paid the Jasper County Assessor pursuant to the recently enacted Senate Bill No. 11 of the First Regular Session of the 89th General Assembly has arisen in this County.

"The Attorney General of Missouri has previously given his opinion regarding the salary increases to County Assessors of the Second, Third and Fourth Class Counties. Jasper County Assessor James Willis requests an Attorney General’s Opinion for First Class Counties.

"Jasper County Assessments for the year 1996 were $726,721,997 and for the year 1997 were $846,972,598. Jasper County is a First Class County and the above assessment figures would put the Jasper County Assessor’s salary at $51,000

"Senate Bill No. 11 became effective approximately 90 days after adjournment which would have been August 28th, 1997. The new term for the Jasper County Assessor started September 1st, 1997 so that this should resolve the dispute concerning the constitutional prohibition against raising the salary while a person is in office as provided in Attorney General Opinion 137-97 for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Class Counties.

"The Missouri Statutes provide for an Assessor’s Salary of $51,000 for Jasper County size of assessment. The Jasper County Budget indicates a salary of $51,000 is to be paid the Assessor. The State Tax Commission also approved this sum. For a few months, Jasper County paid this budgeted sum. The Attorney General ruled in an Opinion dated August 26th, 1997, Opinion No. 137-97 that Senate Bill No. 11 of the 89th General Assembly, First Regular Session of 1997 set the salary for County Assessors with terms of office which began September 1st, 1997. The Opinion points out the County Assessors that were elected in November, 1996 commenced their new term of office on September 1st, 1997 and the effective date of Senate Bill No. 11 of the 1997 First Regular Session would have been effective August 28th, 1997 and applied to those Assessors taking office September 1st, 1997.

"There is a Statutory County Salary Commission in every non-chartered County which may lower the percentage of allowable compensation per year of the salary set by Senate Bill No. 11 such as 85% for 1998. All salaries must be of the same percentage for all offices of the County.

"James Willis states that the Salary Commission of Jasper County held the first meeting on October 22, 1997 and voted on salaries for officers to be elected in 1998 and 2000. This salary Commission has never met before this date.

"Section 50.343.(1) would indicate the County Assessor is to be paid a salary of $51,000 in Jasper County if the assessed valuation is between $750,000,001 to $900,000,000 pursuant to Section 50.343.2 provides that after December 31st, 1990 and any County of the Second Classification which becomes a First Classification County without a charter form of government, the annual compensation of the Assessor "may" be set at the option of the Salary Commission which is to meet on or before October 1st of the year immediately prior to the beginning of the County Fiscal Year following the General Elections after certification by the State Equalizing Agency that the County possesses an assessed valuation placing it in the First Classification status. . .

"The Jasper County Salary Commission did hold a meeting on October 22nd, 1997, the notes of which appears to be related to a salary increase for those offices elected in 1998 and 2000. Please note that the present Jasper County Assessor was elected to office in November, 1996 for September 1st, 1997. There apparently are no prior Salary Commission meetings before October 22, 1997

"In the absence of the Jasper County Salary Commission meeting to reduce the salary schedule set by the legislature, for the Assessor, it would appear that the Assessor would receive the salary set by legislature i.e. $51,000 as provided by the Statute. It would further appear that once a salary has been set for an office, the Salary Commission cannot lower that salary in the future.

"Since the Salary Commission Statute uses the word "may" instead of "shall," it would appear clear that in the absence of a timely Salary Commission meeting for Jasper County, the Assessor’s Salary would be what the legislature set as the salary for the Assessor i.e. $51,000.

"The passage of Senate Bill No. 11 would be meaningless if Assessor’s Salary were left at the old sum specified in repealed Statutes, especially since repeal Statutes have no effect.

"The Missouri Statutes since Jasper County became a First Class County have proved a method (Salary Commission) for each County to lower the salary set by the State Legislature and in the absence of action by the Salary Commission to lower the Assessor’s Salary, the Legislature’s sum would apply i.e. $51,000."

Very truly yours,

James F. DeNeen

Commentary

Martin "Bubs" Hohulin, State Representative

Sometimes even when I see something up here with my own eyes, I still can’t believe it. Regular readers of this column will remember the concern (actually, it was outright disagreement) I expressed a few weeks ago with Governor Carnahan’s proposal to send our three and four year olds to public schools. I said then and I’ll say it again that it is nothing more than state run babysitting. When I wrote the first column, I really didn’t think it had much of a chance of passing this year. How wrong I am turning out to be!

In a shrewd move, Gov. Carnahan tied the prekindergarten legislation in with some veterans legislation. The Veteran’s Commission is funded with some of the riverboat gambling money. It is in the law that part of the boarding fee from the boats has to go to the Veteran’s Commission. The fund has a considerable balance built up and Gov. Carnahan is eyeing it to fund another part of his womb to tomb government coverage plan.

Don’t misread what I am about to say next; I have nothing but the highest respect for our veteran’s that sacrificed and contributed to the freedoms we all have today. I truly believe they are among our most deserving citizens. In a bizarre move which could lead one to believe Gov. Carnahan did some arm-twisting, the Veteran’s Commission endorsed the pre-kindergarten plan to be paid for out of the Veterans fund. Probably not so coincidentally, legislation was included that gave the Veterans a scholarship program and burial details they had been seeking. I’m not making any accusations, but draw your own conclusions.

Jump with me if you will to something in the public school system known as the "categoricals". These are the areas of transportation, special education, gifted programs, and vocational education. Funding in these areas has been steadily declining according to need ever since the passage of Senate Bill 380 back in 1993. I and many other Republicans consider these areas to be very vital to our public school system. It doesn’t make any sense to be saddling our school districts with a babysitting program when such vital areas are already hurting financially. In an effort to bring some common sense to the process, Rep. Jewell Patek, R-Chillocothe offered an amendment to take the money proposed for the pre-kindergarten program and use it to fund the aforementioned categoricals. This would have been around ten million dollars for local school districts around the state. Maybe his proposal made too much sense or maybe the Democrats were taking their marching orders from Gov. Carnahan, but it was voted down on an almost party line split.

I suppose by now I should be used to losing up here, but it really upsets me to watch our gov. use the veterans and children of this great state as pawns in his high-stakes chess game of who will raise our kids, the parents or the state.

As usual, I can be reached at House Post Office, State Capitol, Jefferson City, MO 65101 or 1-800-878-7126 or mhohulin@services.state.mo.us for your questions, comments, or advice.

There wasn’t the large crowd lined up to reserve a spot for County filin’ yesterday, but what was there looked respectable enough. There was plenty of available seatin’ however.

Accordin’ to the reports I got from those who were there, John Putnam was joined yesterday by Danny Hensley, with Judge Schoeberl comin’ along later.

Incumbents Shirley Norris and Steve Holt have reserved spots. Linda Williams also held a place in line.

From what I’m hearin’, there prob’ly will be a few more in line tomorrow ta file. The gate opens at 8:00 a.m.

The County Clerk, Margie Bull, needs a receipt from the candidates party ‘fore the filin’ can be official.

There seems ta be a good number of those new to the political runnin’ lookin’ at various offices this year. Should know more tomorrow.

This is some fact, but mostly, Just Jake Talkin’.

by

McCune Brooks Hospital

Health Notes

Dr. R. Wayne Bowman, associate professor of ophthalmology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, reports that contact lens wearers who put their dried-out lenses in their mouths to rehydrate them might be better off letting their dogs take a lick at them.

"Most people falsely believe that a human’s mouth is cleaner than a dog’s mouth," said Dr. Bowman. "So they wouldn’t think twice about using their own saliva to wash the lenses." But, Dr. Bowman cautioned, "if you do so, you run the risk of exposing your eye to a multitude of bacteria."

Bowman pointed out that these bacteria in the saliva can cause corneal infections.

As for using tap water, which we tend to assume must be all right since it’s safe to drink, Bowman said, "Tap water isn’t sterile and contains Acanthamoeba, an organism that can cause an eye infection that could lead to blindness."

The best thing to do is to take a portable lens-cleaning solution kit with you. And what if you don’t have such a kit handy and your lenses get dry or dirty? Dr. Bowman has the answer for that as well: "Just leave the lenses out," he said. His advice is sound, since it’s better to see poorly for a while, than risk not seeing anything at all.

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