Susan Montee

JEFFERSON CITY — With a cool $4 billion in federal stimulus funds expected to flow into Missouri, “now is not the time to cut the resources available” to track the money, says Joe Martin, chief of staff to state Auditor Susan Montee.

Martin was reacting to House Budget Chairman Allen Icet’s proposal to cut state general revenue for most agencies — including Montee’s office — by 5 percent.

Martin said 85 percent of the auditor’s budget comes from state general revenue, so the cut would hit the office harder than some agencies. (Overall, about 38 percent of the state budget comes from general revenue, he said. The rest comes from federal and other funds.)

If Montee’s budget is slashed by $360,000, Martin said state agencies will be audited less frequently, county governments may become ineligible for federal funds because they may not be audited at all, and local property tax rates will not be verified in a timely fashion.

Montee’s office also could have trouble keeping up with new duties, such as auditing gambling taxes as required under Proposition A passed by voters last fall, he said.

Then there’s the stimulus. Montee doesn’t know exactly what her duties will be but everyone is talking about transparency and accountability, so it stands to reason that the auditor will play a key role.

The proposed budget cut would “result in reduced capacity for the (state auditor’s office) to provide accountability of the billions of federal stimulus dollars flowing to Missouri governments in the near future,” Martin said.

Martin made his comments in a letter last week to Rep. Rachel Storch, D-St. Louis, a member of the budget committee. The committee is expected to amend the bills and send them to the House floor this week.