ARNOLD, Mo.—Arnold city officials have filed a lawsuit against the Missouri State Auditor as his office investigates how taxpayer money is being used by two Transportation Development Districts. 

The probe comes after a proposed $75 million road project was scrapped following litigation. An audit is looking at the city of Arnold, the Arnold Triangle TDD and the Arnold Retail Corridor TDD. The auditor’s office says the probe was launched after receiving “multiple credible whistleblower complaints.”

Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick announced his office issued a third subpoena against Arnold officials to get unredacted documents that he says officials have been unwilling to provide.

"The people of Arnold should be outraged by the efforts of city officials to prevent our auditors from accessing records detailing how millions of taxpayer dollars have been used by these TDDs,” Fitzpatrick said. 

He explained in the release that “city officials have repeatedly failed to fully cooperate and have regularly dragged their feet on providing requested documents.”

The auditor says his office subpoena the Arnold mayor and the Arnold Retail Corridor TDD, which led to a quick response including, “heavily redacted closed meeting minutes.”

Fitzpatrick says when his office pressed for unredacted copies, Arnold filed suit challenging his authority to obtain those documents. Spectrum News reached out to the city administrator and is waiting for a response.

He is giving the city until May 1 to comply with the new subpoena or plans to file a counterclaim.

“Their lawsuit is a futile effort to delay our work and prevent the public from having access to information about how their tax dollars have been spent,” Fitzpatrick said. 

“After we decisively win this legal challenge, I will expect full compliance from the city so we can complete our audit and shine the light of transparency on the actions of the city and their TDDs."

Plans for the proposed Arnold Parkway project were scrapped following litigation from business owners. The owners of Water Tower Place Shopping Center, who filed the lawsuit over the proposed plan, accused the city of working secretly to acquire property and taking actions to hide the project from businesses, property owners and taxpayers.