Missouri

On Your Side Investigation follows state program dollars from new car fees in Missouri

Published

1 year ago

October 17, 2023

On Your Side Investigation follows state program dollars from new car fees in Missouri

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) – The next time you buy a car, new or used, you might get a $500 fee. It’s in the fine print.

A customer tells On Your Side he was told by law he could not negotiate it. Turns out, it’s a state program that should benefit all Missouri drivers. Yet, not all dealers charge it.

Jeffrey Meyer has no buyer’s remorse. “We’ve taken it to Florida three or four times since we’ve had it. 28.3 miles to the gallon,” he said.

He bought a 2020 Chrysler Pacifica ‘S’ at James River Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram.

While making the deal, he noticed a $499 administrative fee on the purchase agreement.

“I’ve bought a lot of cars over the years, and I’ve never paid over $199 for a document fee,” he told the salesperson.

He says he was told the money goes to Missouri’s Department of Revenue into the Motor Vehicle Administration Technology Fund. It’s the new modernization program to replace our severely outdated 40-year-old computer system at DMV offices across the state.

“These poor clerks that are in training right now. They have to learn fifty different systems,” said Rod Jetton, Deputy Director of the Missouri Vehicle Drivers License Division of the Department of Revenue. “It’s fifty different passwords to get into those systems because the systems don’t talk,” he said.

“Where’s this system at? I mean, 2026?” asked Meyer.

July 2026 is the target date for the new system. Eventually, dealerships can use it, too. Then, drivers can pay car taxes there and not at the DMV.

“When I first moved down here, it was almost like going back in time,” said John Widiger with Springfield Nissan and Springfield Kia. “Why are we giving titles to customers? Back in Illinois, it was simple. It was done.”

Widiger says the upgrade is necessary.

“It is going to cause us a little more work, but it will be way more convenient for the consumer, and that way, the state gets their taxes right up front,” he said.

Republican State Senator Lincoln Hough agrees it will be good for Missourians.

“A lot of people, when they go and buy a new car, you could often have several thousand dollars in taxes that are owed sales taxes, you can now roll that into your payments,” said State Senator Hough.

Meyer had two major questions.

“Are the dealers really collecting $499 on every car that they sell through the state of Missouri? And if they are, how much is being sent to the state, if any?” he asked.

On Your Side filed a public records request with DOR to find the answers. A few weeks later, we got a 54-page document.

Turns out the fee Meyer paid is a little high. According to a 2021 state law, dealerships can charge whatever they want for that administrative fee of up to $565 per car. Ten percent of that must go to the state fund. Dealerships keep the rest. Not all charge the max. The average is $331. May Motor Company was one of the lowest in the Springfield area at $99.

“I’m tickled about that,” said Mike May, owner of May Motor Company. “But, I’m thinking, oh Gosh, am I leaving money on the table?” He joked. “I’m not saying we’ll stay at $99 forever, but we’re not jumping to $565 next week.”

Car salesmen were quick to tell us it’s not a profit ‘gotcha.’

“We really aren’t. At the end of the day, everyone shops online. So, we take that fee into consideration when we market our pricing. If I’m not competitive with the dealer down the street, then my phone is not going to ring,” said Widiger.

Meyer says he was told he couldn’t negotiate the fee amount. Turns out that is correct.

“If they choose to charge an administrative fee, they have to charge that administrative fee to all their customers at the same price,” said Jetton.

Back to the second part of Meyer’s question. “How much is being sent to the state, if any?”

The paperwork shows how much each dealership has put into the fund. For example, some top contributors in the Ozarks last year, Corwin Motors $178,000. Reliable Chevrolet $140,000. Thompson Sales $98,000 and Youngblood $91,000.

It also shows only 907 of the 4,917 dealers in the Show-Me state collect an administrative fee.

Ashley Reynolds asked Jetton, “Why do dealers get to choose to participate if we’re all going to end up benefiting from this system?”

“In dealers that don’t charge that, you could say we’re getting a better deal, but that’s the way the legislature wrote it. The big dilemma is between may and shall. Instead of having the shall word, it had the may, and the dealers were able to choose whether they had the fee or not,” said Jetton.

“I think it’s up to the individual dealers and dealerships to decide how much they would charge and if they charge at all,” said Hough.

Those 907 dealerships that have the administrative fee are putting about $1.5 million a month into this fund.

“I’m happy to hear they’re turning over the fee they’re supposed to,” said Meyer.

In that records request, On Your Side asked to see the total budget for the fund. Documents show by 2031, this is a more than $82 million projected program. By July 2037, the price tag is nearly $108 million.

“It takes time to build a giant IT system like this. I think, in the end, it will be a better system for the public,” said Hough.

Jetton says the state went with the lowest of four bids. A company called Fast Enterprises in Colorado will do the job. He says they’ve moved about thirty employees to Jefferson City.

“Their bid came in at $65 million. The next closest bid was $104 million. They were about $40 million cheaper than everyone else, and they got a reputation of being the top modernization company in the nation. I think we’re the 17th state they’re doing,” said Jetton.

Reynolds asked if Missouri’s budget is comparable to other states with similar programs.

“From what we’ve researched and seen, yes. As a matter of fact, it’s gotten cheaper,” said Jetton.

$278 is the monthly cost of two leased printers.

“That’s why we are going to a service contract. We have so much trouble keeping printers operational. They do a heavy volume at the license offices. They break. They go down. We think it will save us money if we go with a contract,” said Jetton.

“We could go to Office Depot right now and find cheaper printers or a bulk order at Best Buy,” said Meyer.

DOR says the computers won’t be ready for another three years.

“I got a strange feeling that’s going to be a shorter deadline than they’re going to be able to meet,” said Widiger.

Dealerships will still be paying until the system is ready to go.

“I would like them to get the computer system set up and get it done. We are sending them a lot of money every month,” said Widiger.

When the switch happens, that 10 percent the state collects from dealerships will drop to one percent.

“We are hoping the other nine percent will help cover the additional staff needed,” said Widiger.

Meyer might not agree with the cost, but we did track down where our money goes.

“I don’t think we’re getting much bang for our buck,” he said.

The Department of Revenue initially declined our interview request. For about a month, we kept asking. The director of strategy and communications repeatedly wanted us to send questions beforehand. KY3 News does not do that. We told Governor Parson and State Senator Hough about this problem, and eventually, we got that sit-down interview.

To report a correction or typo, please email digitalnews@ky3.com

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Missouri

Scouting report: Mississippi State

Published

1 hour ago

November 20, 2024

Press Room

The Missouri Tigers (7-3, 3-3 SEC) dropped a thrilling game against South Carolina to essentially end their College Football Playoff hopes. But there’s still two regular seasons and a bowl game left.

First up, the Tigers will finish the true-road game schedule in Starkville, Miss., where they will face Mississippi State (2-8, 0-6 SEC).

The Bulldogs ended a seven-game losing streak with a 45-20 win against UMass two weeks ago, but dropped a 33-14 game against Tennessee last weekend to stay winless in conference play.

Missouri opened as an 8-point favorite according to Circa Sports.

Here’s a glance at Mississippi State and what Missouri will face at 3:15 p.m. Saturday in Mississippi.

When: 3:15 p.m. CT, Saturday

Where: Davis Wade Stadium, Starkville, Mississippi.

TV: SEC Network

RADIO: Tiger Radio Network

The Tigers and Bulldogs have played only four times with Mississippi State winning the two matchups since Missouri joined the SEC.

The most recent matchup was a 51-32 Bulldog win in Starkville in 2020 and Mississippi State won 31-13 in 2015 in Columbia.

Missouri won 47-30 in a non-conference matchup in Columbia in 1984 and a 14-3 non-conference road matchup in 1981.

Scoring offense: 27.6 (No. 72)

Scoring defense: 34.4 (No. 117)

Rushing offense: 146.9 (No. 82)

Rushing defense: 214.5 (No. 126)

Passing offense: 238.9 (No. 53)

Passing defense: 246.3 (No. 103)

OFFENSE

Michael Van Buren Jr., QB

The 6-foot-1, 200-pound freshman took over the quarterback spot in Week 4 against Florida after transfer senior Blake Shapen hurt his shoulder and was knocked out for the season.

In eight games, Van Buren Jr. has passed for 1,415 yards and completed 107-of-196 (54.6 percent) of his passes. He has nine touchdowns and five interceptions.

His best games came at Georgia and against Arkansas.

At Georgia, he completed 20-of-37 passes for 306 yards, three touchdowns and an interception, and got shoved by Georgia coach Kirby Smart.

Against Arkansas, Van Buren completed 22-of-31 (71 percent) of his passes for 309 yards and two touchdowns, but he did have two interceptions.

He hasn’t had another two-interception game, though he did throw one each against Georgia, Texas A&M and Tennessee.

He has not been a rushing threat this season, never totaling more than 15 yards in a game and racking up -5 yards on 57 attempts this year when including sack yardage.

Davon Booth and Johnnie Daniels, RBs

The pair of running backs have combined for 1,106 yards and eight touchdowns, both averaging between 50-60 yards per game.

Booth, a 5-10, 205-pound senior, leads the way at 597 yards and four touchdowns, while also catching 10 passes for 124 yards and four touchdowns.

Booth has grown into the lead back the past four weeks with games of 79 rushing yards and two catches for 31 yards and a score against Texas A&M, 93 rushing yards and a 54-yard receiving touchdown against Arkansas, 76 rushing yards and a score against UMass and 125 rushing yards and a touchdown against Tennessee.

Booth also often returns kicks, taking 11 back for a combined 281 yards (25.55 per return).

Daniels, a 5-10, 200-pound junior, has 509 yards and four rushing scores to go with seven catches for 72 yards.

His best game was a 92-yard performance against UMass, but he has games of 77 yards and a score against Florida and 75 yards against Texas.

Kevin Coleman, WR

The 5-11, 180-pound junior has totaled about a third of the team’s total receiving yards with 756 on 62 catches with five touchdowns.

He has surpassed 100 yards three times, a four-catch, 103-yard game against Arizona State, an eight-catch, 103-yard performance against Georgia and an eight-catch 100-yard performance against Arkansas.

His touchdowns came one each against Eastern Kentucky, Arizona State, Toledo, Texas A&M and Arkansas.

He has also returned 11 kicks for 134 yards (12.18 per return), but most of that came on five returns against Eastern Kentucky in the first game of the season.

DEFENSE

Isaac Smith, Safety

The 6-0, 205-pound sophomore leads the team with 101 tackles in nine games played. He recorded 20 tackles against Tennessee last week.

He has broken up two passes and forced a fumble against Florida.

Corey Ellington, Safety

A 6-3, 200-pound senior, Ellington leads the Bulldogs with three forced fumbles in just seven games played. He forced one each against Florida, Texas and Arkansas.

He has totaled 39 tackles this year with nine each against Arkansas and UMass, and he has one tackle for loss against Texas to go with three pass breakups.

Brice Pollock, Corner

The 6-1, 190-pound sophomore, leads the Bulldogs with seven pass breakups. He had one each in five of the season’s first six games, then two against UMass.

In 10 games, Pollock has 38 total tackles with his season-high of six coming against both Arkansas State and Texas. He has one tackle for loss coming last week against Tennessee, one forced fumble against Georgia and an interception against Georgia.

Nate Noel vs. Mississippi State’s front 7

The Bulldogs have allowed a lot of rushing yards this year. An SEC team having the No. 126 rushing defense per game out of 133 teams is crazy. The only other power-conference team below No. 120 is Oklahoma State at No. 132 (shoutout my Cowboys, what a year).

Noel, Marcus Carroll, Jamal Roberts and Kewan Lacy all have an opportunity to dominate the game and keep pressure off of Brady Cook as he continues to recover.

If the Mizzou running backs are able to take advantage of a really struggling run defense, that will be big for the Tigers.

Missouri’s offense vs. the red zone

Mississippi State allows a lot of yards and a lot of points. The Tigers cannot continue to struggle in the red zone as they have all year.

Settling for field goals might be enough to win this game, but if the Tigers are regularly sending out Blake Craig, that’s a bad sign. This is not a defense that should be able to stop any of the running backs, Theo Wease or Luther Burden in tight situations.

Mizzou should be reaching the end zone every time it gets to the red zone this week.

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Missouri

King’s 18 lead Missouri State over UT Arlington

Published

9 hours ago

November 20, 2024

Press Room

King’s 18 lead Missouri State over UT Arlington

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Zaxton King’s 18 points helped Missouri State defeat UT Arlington 78-68 on Tuesday night.

King shot 5 of 14 from the field, including 2 for 5 from 3-point range, and went 6 for 6 from the line for the Bears (3-1). Vincent Brady II scored 14 points, shooting 4 for 9 (2 for 3 from 3-point range) and 4 of 4 from the free-throw line. Jalen Hampton and Dez White both added 12 points and Hampton had 12 rebounds.

The Mavericks (2-3) were led by Jaxon Ellingsworth, who posted 19 points and six rebounds. Darius Burford added 14 points and nine rebounds for UT Arlington. Raysean Seamster also had 14 points, six rebounds and two blocks.

___

To report a correction or typo, please email digitalnews@ky3.com. Please include the article info in the subject line of the email.

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Missouri

Top 25 Missouri Boys High School Basketball Preseason Rankings

Published

17 hours ago

November 19, 2024

Press Room

Top 25 Missouri Boys High School Basketball Preseason Rankings

The 2024-25 Missouri boys high school basketball season is about to tip-off and it is a great time to take a look at the Top 25 teams in the state. Follow our rankings each of the season as we track who moves up, or down, based on the results.

The Red Devils feature a roster full of college prospects. They appeared in the Class 6 championship game last season and returned most of their production. Jahadi White Jr, Jamison White, Jonny Jordan, and Ben Winker all hold Division 1 offers.

Jimmy McKinney leads Vashon as their new head coach. His first year roster is led by Missouri State signee Trey Williams and Dehrio McCaskill. His son Jimmy McKinney Jr. is a highly touted 2027 prospect. The Wolverines have championship DNA.

De Smet return as Class 5 champions with a potential move up to the Class 6 in the coming weeks. They return all key starters & role players. North Dakota State signee Riley Massey and 2026 prospect Ian Thomas lead a talented backcourt.

Oak Park is coming off a 27-5 season that led them to Mizzou Arena in March. They’re loaded with upperclassmen that have experience. 6’5 guard Corbin Allen leads the way and fills up the box score.

The Bulldogs have a tough task trying to replace the production of Dontrez Williams. With that being said their core of PJ Farmer, Trace Sadler, and Tristan Wiggins will make noise in Class 5. They’re deep at the guard position. Marquel Murray was a big transfer statewide.

Burroughs will be a tough out for most programs in the state. They have a frontline that’s tough to match up with. 6’9 Tristan Reed and 6’10 Sheek Pearson are both high-major prospects. The Bombers won 27 games last season.

The Trailblazers feature a dominant backcourt duo in Mizzou signee Aaron Rowe and Exavier Wilson. The two have years of chemistry built. Blake Pingeton completes the roster as a 6’7 swingman. Could this be the year for Tolton in Class 4?

Staley have established themselves as a top overall program in the state. Chris Neff is an excellent coach. 6’7 senior Xavier Wislon is their go-to guy. Scoring at a high clip will be senior guard Avian Webb. This group went 23-6 last season.

Principia will be a squad to watch early. They’ve compiled a ton of talent in the 2026 and 2027 classes and are led by legendary coach Jay Blossom. No doubt they are a factor in Class 4. Keep an eye out for 2026 guard Quentin Coleman.

The Statesmen are young but talented. Justin Mathes is a tremendous coach that has talent at his disposal. One thing is a given, they’re going to compete. 2027 Scottie Adkinson has built a reputation as one of the best nationwide. 2028 Miles Simpson will play early and often.

Vianney lost Eddie Smajic and Symon Ghai but still have a well-rounded team around Southern Illinois signee Luke Wlash. They’re a strong three point shooting team coming off a 25 win season.

A top program in SWMO, the Chiefs have much of their core still in place. Reese Kimrey and Jackson Shorter will form an excellent pick & roll duo. Mitch McHenry knows what it takes to make deep playoff runs as a coach.

Battle has some of the best guards in Missouri. Their up-tempo style will apply pressure on the defensive end. Last season they went 20-8 while playing a tough schedule. 2027 Brandon Rooks is a name to know.

One of the best returning teams in Class 6. This is a group who clicked late in the season. They have chemistry and should continue to build in a winning direction after a 20 win season.

Helias is a sneaky good team following a handful of transfers this off-season. They have a host of 2026 prospects who will make major contributions. A contender in Class 5.

Springfield Central retains Keion Epps and Bryce Walker from a team who went far last season. Replacing Tyrique Brooks and his production as a committee will be key to keeping continuity.

The Bruins are an older squad with a host of players who produced last season. Reese Minnix and Brady Davidson are a formidable frontcourt tandem. Last season they went 22-6 with nearly all of their scoring coming back.

The Dragons are a wild card. They could end up being much higher when it’s all said and done. The star is Zyree Collins who some consider the offensive best player in Missouri. He’s surrounded by a strong supporting cast.

A team with tons of potential. The Broncos are a group that could make noise in 2024-25’. Junior wing Tre Paulding is someone that can be special for this team. They play a tough early slate in conference.

Howell were a few possessions away from making state last season. Their 24-6 team from last year returns senior Will Paulson who’s a 6’7 forward leading them in scoring. Their backcourt is explosive as well.

Rogersville is built around two important pieces. One is their coach, Jon Schaefer, who’s a top coach in Missouri. The other is 2027 point guard Chase Branham. He’s one of the best prospects in the state regardless of class holding a Mizzou offer.

Westminster have won and won often under Dale Ribble. He has developed a strong culture around the program and they’re a safe bet to stay on this list. JD Robertson is a key senior while sophomore guard Will Powers is a name who could emerge.

The Jays will look a lot different in 2024-25’. They’ll be led by new coach Ethan Williams. The first year coach will be in good hands at the forward spot. 2025 Arkansas Baseball commit Jordan Martin is a machine on the court.

The Lions are a team going through a rebuild but make no mistake about it, they’ll compete and win their fair share of games. That’s the culture on North Spring Avenue. A tough out for anybody in the state due to their defensive ability.

Rolla will look to win their district following a 22-6 season last year. They’ve proven to compete well vs. tough competition and have a dynamic talent in 2026 Ethan Brown. The junior guard has a chance to lead this team in all major categories.

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