Missouri’s Water Patrol Could Get $1 Million More Per Year

If you had an extra million a year, what would you do with it?

The Missouri Water Patrol may soon be in that enviable predicament, thanks to House Bill 1300.

But what would they do with the money? Put more troopers on the water? Upgrade equipment? Invest in additional training? Someone surely knows, but the Missouri State Highway Patrol won’t give any specifics. They don’t comment on pending legislation.

But the bill’s sponsor, Kathie Conway (R-104), says her impression is that the Water Patrol needs more money.

“I have been the Appropriations Chair for Public Safety for the last 4 years and Vice Chair for the 2 years before that,” she said. “I had that history to know that more money was necessary to run the WP and they received the majority of their funding from the Water Patrol Fund. I realized we needed to ‘up’ the funding stream or it would a hit on General Revenue. It seemed logical to me that the people that most use the services of the WP would fund it.”

The Water Patrol Division is part of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, and one of the main sources of funding for the Water Patrol is the Water Patrol Fund, defined by Missouri Statute 306.185. The fund’s revenues come from boat licensing fees. As it stands now, the state’s General Revenue fund receives the first $2 million in annual boat licensing fees, with the remainder going into the Water Patrol Fund. That figure over the past four years has been between $2.5M and $3M.

Annual Water Patrol Fund Receipts:

2014 - $2,962,600

2015 - $2,768,015

2016 - $2,661,931

2017 - $2,901,729

That practice was set by Missouri statute 306.030(12), which specifies: The first two million dollars [of boat license fees] collected annually… shall be deposited into the state general revenue fund. All fees collected under the provisions of this section in excess of two million dollars annually shall be deposited in the water patrol division fund and shall be used exclusively for the water patrol division.

But HB1300 would change that, by lowering the receipts threshold from $2 million to $1 million, after which the Water Patrol Fund would receive any remaining boat license revenues. That means an extra $1 million out of General Revenue and into the Water Patrol’s budget: a 34 percent increase in revenues to the Water Patrol Fund. The change would kick in beginning July 1, 2019.

The Missouri State Water Patrol Fund was set up in 2006. When that happened, boat licensing fees were more than doubled, and fees for boats 40 feet or longer nearly quadrupled. Those fees had been $10, $20, $30, and $40, based on boat length, but were raised to $25, $55, $100, and $150 respectively.

The extra million would be used exclusively for Water Patrol activities, since funds are not fungible within the MSHP, according to Captain John Hotz, Director of the Public Information and Education Division. “There is a clear demarcation between all funding sources,” he said, adding, “The Water Patrol fund only constitutes about 1 percent of the entire MSHP budget. Hotz also pointed out, “The majority of the Patrol’s funding (approximately 71%) comes from Highway funds. Other larger funds include General Revenue (approximately 11%) and Federal (approximately 8%).”

Conway says she’s had no negative feedback on the bill. A spokesperson from the MSHP did testify to the committee regarding the bill, but Hotz says that was only to answer clarifying questions about the Patrol’s funding and not to advocate for or against the bill.

As of this publication, HB 1300 has cleared the Missouri House and been sent to the Senate.