By Marshall Griffin, KWMU
10/3/07 – Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon is accusing members of the state Housing Development Commission of planning to give tax breaks to a developer that hired illegal immigrants.
Scott Holste, a spokesman for Nixon, says staff members for the commission put together a back-door arrangement to give an additional $4 million in tax credits to Gundaker Commercial Group to build a housing project in St. Charles County.
"The awarding of taxpayer dollars in a situation where this wasn't brought to the full commission is troubling, particularly because of the problems that this project has had with undocumented workers," Holste said.
Nixon claims some members of the Housing Development Commission either orchestrated or knew about the alleged secret deal, including State Treasurer Sarah Steelman and Rob Monsees, a former member of Gov. Blunt's staff.
Neither the Governor's office nor the Treasurer's office returned calls for comments on this story.
Holste says they've sent a letter to the commission asking that no more tax credits be issued to Gundaker Commercial Group for this latest project.