Nixon: Mo. to collect $35M in delinquent taxes

Through a bill he signed last year, Gov. Jay Nixon expects the Missouri Department of Revenue to collect an estimated $35 million from delinquent taxpayers in 2016.

House Bill 384, which was sponsored by Rep. Tom Flanigan, R-Carthage, allows delinquent taxpayers a one-time chance to pay taxes administered by the Department of Revenue on or before Dec. 31, 2014. The taxes can be paid back without penalties or interest.

The funds would be used to expand dental care to roughly 282,000 low-income Missourians and enable a 1 percent rate increase for health providers offering Medicaid services, including for state residents with disabilities, according to a news release. Programs receiving increases including alcohol and drug abuse prevention and treatment, in-home services, private duty nursing and child welfare.

Nixon said while the funding would be a boon this year, additional measures eventually would be required.

“Moving forward, these kinds of services are simply too critical to be put at risk by funding them with one-time sources of revenue,” the governor said in the release. “That’s why it’s important that we continue to keep our fiscal discipline for the remainder of this fiscal year, so that next year’s budget can include ongoing and sustainable funding for developmental disability providers – and others who care for our most vulnerable citizens.”