The
PSTIF Board of Trustees is receiving public comments on this proposal
and will hold a public meeting to hear additional comments on September
26. The Board is then scheduled to meet on October 24 to make a final
decision regarding the recommended increase.
In preparation
for its decision, the Board has asked for updated cash flow projections,
which will estimate future revenues and liabilities of the Fund. These
projections are scheduled to be available in early September, and
will be posted on PSTIF's web site, www.pstif.org.
In addition,
a mailing to fee payers, petroleum distributors, Fund policyholders,
remedial claim beneficiaries, and other interested parties - including
all of you on the Latest Leaks mailing list - is planned for
early September.
If the
Board approves the recommended fee increase at the October 24 meeting,
the increase will become effective on January 1, 2002, which means
payments due to the Department of Revenue on March 2, 2002, would
be the first payments affected by the fee increase. The proposed fee
increase was made possible by legislation enacted by the Missouri
General Assembly earlier this year and signed by the Governor in July.
Anyone
with questions concerning the proposed fee increase is encouraged
to call the PSTIF's Executive Director at 573-522-2352. Written comments
on the proposed fee increase may be sent to: PSTIF, PO Box 836, Jefferson
City, MO 65102. The deadline for receiving written comments is October
9, 2001.
PSTIF
Wins Award
Missouri
recently won the "Best Financial Achievement" award in recognition
of work done by the PSTIF Board of Trustees and its Advisory Committee
in 2000 and 2001 to anticipate and address the projected funding shortfall.
The award was given at the Annual Conference of State Tank Fund Administrators,
where representatives of 45 states who operate funds similar to PSTIF
gathered.
Congrats
to the Board, the Advisory Committee, staff and all others who spent
hours reviewing cash flow projections, discussing options, and building
consensus to implement a solution!
PSTIF
Balance Shrinks
For the
fiscal year ending on June 30, PSTIF saw its cash balance shrink by
another $7 million, to $39 million. This is the second straight year
that expenses have exceeded revenues; not since December 1996, has
the cash balance dipped this low. Another $8 million loss is projected
for FY02.
PSTIF's
Trustees anticipated that demand for cleanup funds would exceed revenues,
and placed a "hold" on new remedial claims in March 2000. That moratorium
is still in effect, and 180 property owners are now on the waiting
list.
The Board
of Trustees will consider what to do about those sites on the waiting
list at its meeting on October 24, when it will also decide whether
to increase the transport load fee.
Tank
Sites List
Three
times in recent years, the state legislature changed the PSTIF law
and set a deadline for property owners or other persons to "list"
sites where tanks were operated in the past. Listing a property was
required to make the site eligible for PSTIF benefits. Each time,
the law established a deadline for reporting the property to either
DNR or PSTIF.
Because
so many properties were reported, and many were reported several times
under different names, creating a single list of known tank sites
in Missouri has been difficult. However, PSTIF has completed this
undertaking, and is making the list available to the public via its
web site, www.pstif.org.
The target
date for adding this information to our web site is Sept. 14. The
list is not a list of registered UST sites, nor can it be used to
determine with certainty whether a particular property is eligible
for PSTIF benefits. However, it provides a starting point for persons
interested in whether a particular property may be eligible.
No
Taxpayer RefundsThis
Year
Over
the last several years, Missouri taxpayers have received several "Hancock
Refunds." The refunds are required when state revenues grow faster
than personal incomes.
When
the refunds are required, all special state trust funds - like PSTIF!
- must "contribute" an amount based on their overall revenues. In
recent years, PSTIF has paid about $2.3 million back to Missouri taxpayers,
which has exacerbated our shrinking fund balance.
For the
fiscal year that ended June 30, 2001, state revenues were not as robust
as in prior years, so no refunds are expected in the coming months.
That may be bad news for taxpayers, but it's good news for PSTIF -
We'd rather spend the money on cleanups!
New
Trustee Appointed
Governor
Holden recently appointed Don McNutt, president of Midwest Petroleum
Company in St. Louis, to serve a four-year term as Trustee of the
Petroleum Storage Tank Insurance Fund. Mr. McNutt is a St. Louis native
and business owner who has worked in the petroleum industry throughout
his career.
He replaces
Sam Carter as the Trustee representing companies that own a large
number of tanks. Mr. Carter had served as a PSTIF Trustee since the
inception of the Board in April 1997, and served as the Board's first
chairman during its organizational phase.
We express
our sincere appreciation to Sam Carter for his leadership and dedicated
service, and we look forward to the new perspective and experience
that Don McNutt brings to the Board. Without folks like Mr. Carter,
Mr. McNutt and the other Trustees who give so much time to this program,
the PSTIF simply could not do its job. Thanks!
RBCA
Training
PSTIF
and Department of Natural Resources staff will be attending a 1 1/2-
day seminar in early September on Risk-Based Corrective Action, or
RBCA. Two nationally-recognized RBCA experts will combine efforts
to bring a customized training course to Missouri's personnel.
The training
is part of an overall plan to refine Missouri's approach to tank site
cleanups.
Cathodic
Protection Training
The Steel
Tank Institute is offering a two-day course for individuals who conduct
field testing of cathodic protection systems on underground tanks.
Those completing the course will be certified as cathodic protection
testers.
Dates
are September 25-26 in Richmond, Virginia, and October 15-16 in Anchorage,
Alaska. Cost is $325. Government and group discounts are available.
Contact Steel Tank Institute at 847-438-8265 or www.steeltank.com.
Latest
Leaks is a newsletter of the Missouri Petroleum Storage Tank
Insurance Fund.
Board
of Trustees
William
"Bart" Creech III, Chairman
Bob Abernathy, Vice Chairman
Judith W. Baker
Gary D. Collins
James P. Ford
Neal A. Gibbons, Sr.
Ron Hooker
Robert "Bob" Jackson
Steve Mahfood
Donald W. McNutt
Joyce Murphy
Executive
Director
Carol R. Eighmey
PO Box 836
Jefferson City, MO 65102
573-522-2352
Third
Party Administrator
Williams & Company Consulting, Inc.
1-800-765-2765
Send
address changes to:
PSTIF, PO Box 104116
Jefferson City, MO 65110
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