XVII. CART funds

County Aid Road Trust

The County Aid Road Trust, known as CART, was one of the first revenue sharing programs in Missouri. Adopted in 1962, it returned a portion of the gasoline taxes collected by the state to the cities and counties. Later, a portion of license and registration fees was added to the shared funds. These monies are strictly for use on roads and bridges (231.441). Counties may construct, reconstruct, maintain and repair. Cities and villages may do those four types of road-related work, plus they may also use the funds to pay for police, lights, signage and cleaning.

Pass-through funds go to counties

The Missouri Constitution (Article IV, Section 30[a]) expressly forbids pass-through of CART money to townships: "In counties having the township form of county organization, the funds credited to such counties shall be expended solely under the control and supervision of the county court, and shall not be expended by the various townships located within such counties." To avoid violating this prohibition, many counties issue bid calls for rock, which is purchased with CART money and then distributed on some equitable basis among townships. Other counties use CART funds solely for bridges, which are a county responsibility. The constitution makes plain, the decision belongs to the county.