Galloway: Almost half of Missouri municipalities do not meet transparency law

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – State Auditor Nicole Galloway released a report Monday indicating 44 percent of all towns, cities and other municipalities failed to adhere to a finance transparency law.

Statute dictates every county, city, town and village must submit to the auditor’s office an annual report of all their finance transactions within six months of the end of the fiscal year – Dec. 31, 2016. However, of the 333 entities required to submit such a report, only 185 did so.

“I’m disappointed by the dismal success rate demonstrated by so many local governments who are failing to provide even the most basic information about their own financial management,” Galloway said in a statement. “These reporting requirements are not new and they are not complicated. When local governments can’t provide this essential information, they are failing to meet fundamental obligations to transparency and accountability in government.”

The full list of municipalities who did and did not file their reports can be found in the auditor’s full report here, but most major Missouri cities; including Cape Girardeau, Hannibal, Independence, Springfield, and St. Louis; did submit their reports. St. Joseph is the only major city that did not, but Columbia and St. Charles were not listed.