STATE AND LOCAL INDEBTEDNESS 51
tion of bonds, the proceeds of which were used to pay a bonus
to all bona fide residents of Missouri who served honorably
in the military or naval forces of the United States at any
time between April 6, 1917, and November 11, 1918. The
first amendment authorized the issuance of $15 million in
bonds, and was approved by the voters August 2, 1921. It
was later found that the proceeds of this issue were not suffi-
cient to compensate all of those. entitled to the soldiers’
bonus, and accordingly Section 44 was again amended in
order that the provisions of the soldiers’ bonus legislation
could be carried out in full. The additional amount needed
was estimated as approximately $4.6 million, and the ap-
proval of bonds in that amount was given by the electorate
February 26, 1924,
Constitutional Limitations of Local Indebtedness
The constitutional limitations of the indebtedness that
local governments may incur, while not numerous, neverthe-
less effectively limit the governmental units concerned.
There are no constitutional limitations concerning the actual
amounts of indebtedness that may be incurred, as the limi-
tations are stated in percentages of assessed valuation.
While this distinction may not appear to be significant, it
has real importance, particularly when the assessed valua-
tion is considerably less than the actual value.! The assessed
valuation: basis makes it possible for a municipality? to in-
crease its indebtedness by raising its assessment ratio, with-
out coming into conflict with the constitutional limitations.
The General Assembly of Missouri has no power to author-
ize any municipality, present or future, to lend its credit or
grant public money or thing of value in aid of or to any indi-
vidual, association, or corporation, or to become a stock-
holder in such corporation, association, or company.® This
section of the constitution has been modified several times.
While the modifying provisions do not refer specifically to
the lending of credit or the creation of indebtedness, they
10r the legally specified percentage of true value in those cases where less than
full or actual value is required.
2 “Municipality,” except when otherwise indicated, will be used in the remainder
of this section as applying to all local governments.
3 Article IV. Section 47.
