Missouri

Decision instrument

Above $1 million, state debt needs a majority of the voters on the question. Below that, the emergency door is $1 million.

What public act authorizes the borrowing, and where is the purpose and the first-year cost written down? Missouri Constitution, Article III, Section 37. The General Assembly may not contract a liability of the state, or issue bonds for it, except in three cases. Refunding bonds must mature within 25 years. On the governor’s recommendation, a temporary emergency or a casual deficiency may not exceed $1 million in any one year and must be paid within five years. When the liability is above $1 million, the assembly, acting as it does on a constitutional amendment, or the people by initiative, must submit the amount, the purpose, and the terms. A majority of the qualified electors voting on the question must approve. The bonds must be retired in installments within 25 years. Before they are issued, the assembly must provide for the principal and the interest. There are no general obligation bonds outstanding. Leftover authorization, not bonds outstanding, remains for water-pollution control, $130.5 million, and stormwater control, $155 million.

Debt statement

No Annual Debt Statement of the New Jersey kind.

What yearly filing states gross debt, deductions, and how close the issuer is to its limit? State debt is in the annual report for the year ended June 30, 2025. County dollar rows are not attached.

Debt limit

Without a vote, a county may not owe more in a year than that year’s income plus leftover balances. With a vote, the cap is 5% of taxable property.

What cap binds a county or a city, and is the state's own ceiling a different rule? Constitution, Article VI, Section 26(a) and Section 26(b). The voted cap is 5% of the value of taxable tangible property on the last completed assessment. A school district’s voted cap is 15%. The vote required is four-sevenths at the general municipal election, a primary, or a general election, and two-thirds at any other election. The Board of Public Buildings is authorized up to $1.545 billion. That is a ceiling, not bonds outstanding.

Conflict rule

An official may not sell to, or do paid work for, the office above $500 a deal or $5,000 a year, unless the contract was bid.

Which ethics statute covers local officers, what counts as an interest, and who is left out? Revised Statutes of Missouri § 105.454. The rule covers an elected or appointed official or employee serving in an executive or administrative capacity. The same dollar line applies to a spouse, a dependent child, or a business with which the official is associated, if the official tries to influence the decision. Real property does not have to be competitively bid. Other property does, and the bid accepted has to be the lowest. It is a dollar test, not a percent of stock.

Geography

One hundred fourteen counties, and the City of St. Louis, which is not inside a county.

What is the county-equivalent, and which cities, schools, and authorities must not be pasted onto that row? County FIPS 29001 through 29225, with Ste. Genevieve at 29186. The City of St. Louis is 29510. Dollar rows stay blank.

Primary money record

No general obligation bonds. Governmental bonds payable: $1.520 billion.

Which audited report is the state's own number, and as of what date? Annual report, June 30, 2025. That $1,520,025,000 is four piles, not one pledge. State road bonds, $1,127,955,000. Board of Public Buildings bonds counted in governmental funds, $320,050,000. Fulton State Hospital project bonds, $50,840,000. The state’s remaining principal on the State Historical Society financing agreement, $21,180,000. A further $49,710,000 of Board of Public Buildings bonds sits in an enterprise fund. Together the primary government’s bonds payable are $1,569,735,000. The year began at $2,018,650,000. Retired during the year: $448,915,000. Nothing was issued.

Who pays the coupon

Road bonds are paid from the Road Fund, except two series paid from general revenue. Building bonds wait on an appropriation.

Which fund, tax, or rate is actually pledged — not which new store might show up later? In fiscal 2026 the road-bond principal due is $375.9 million and the interest due is $56.7 million. Of the road bonds outstanding, Third Lien Series B 2019, $46.1 million, and Series A 2021, $35.2 million, are payable from the General Revenue Fund. The rest of the road bonds are payable only from the Road Fund. Board of Public Buildings bonds in governmental funds need $61.6 million of principal and $10.5 million of interest in fiscal 2026, from appropriations. The Fulton bonds and the Historical Society agreement are not a full-faith-and-credit pledge. The budget request is supposed to include them. Their fiscal 2026 principal is $7.0 million and $1.7 million.

Other obligors

College and university bond principal: $2.071 billion. Do not add it to the $1.520 billion.

Which authorities and districts borrow beside the state and must not be added to its total? That is $165 million of direct placements and $1.905 billion of other bonds. One school in that total, Harris-Stowe, is as of June 30, 2024, not 2025. A Missouri Development Finance Board parking-garage issue has $7.8 million outstanding. It is paid from the garage, not from a state pledge.

Book-entry wall

Cede & Co., at the Depository Trust Company.

Who is the registered owner on ordinary public paper? Series-level confirmation still waits on that official statement. Beneficial owners stay unnamed.