Comptroller’s Office has not received invoices from Carmody MacDonald

(St. Louis – June 9, 2021) It is unfortunate that falsehoods are being circulated to the press; but facts matter: no invoices from Carmody MacDonald have been submitted to the Comptroller’s Office since 2019.

And we would not expect to receive any invoices until an appropriation for such expenses has been approved by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment. No such request has been submitted thus far.

Furthermore, assigning such costs to the city appears to conflict with a binding Missouri Supreme Court case in the form of State ex rel. Merrell v. Carter, 518 S.W.3d 798 (Mo. 2017) (en banc), a case in which the court determined that Taney County had no obligation to pay such billings. The Supreme Court stated that: “‘Costs’ are a creature of statute, and the courts have ‘no inherent power to award costs, which can only be granted by virtue of express statutory authority.”

As Chief Fiscal Officer, Comptroller Green is the city’s watchdog and is charged with protecting taxpayer dollars and assuring fiscal responsibility. It would not be fiscally responsible for the city to pay costs that should be borne by the state.

---

Comptroller Darlene Green is the chief fiscal officer of the City of St. Louis and is charged with safeguarding the city’s credit rating and with protecting taxpayer dollars. She is the recipient of the 2019 Women in Public Finance Lifetime Achievement award. Visit www.stlouis-mo.gov/comptroller to learn more about the Office of the Comptroller.