HERMANN — Gasconade County’s main source of revenue returned to a healthy level in October after taking a slide in September, according to the monthly report on the various sales taxes by County Treasurer Mike Feagan.

Earlier this month, Feagan reported to the County Commission that the General Fund Sales Tax returned to a 6-figure level in the October reimbursement check from the Missouri Department of Revenue. The October amount is $105,734, up from the $99,878 received in September.

Generally speaking, the revenue received in a month was generated by retail sales made during the previous month.

For seven of the first 10 months this year, the county’s reimbursement check has topped $100,000. Through October, Gasconade County has received $1,041,008 generated by the half-cent General Fund Sales Tax. This is the primary source of revenue that funds county government. Last year, the tax generated $1,234,320. To this point, this year’s total amount is $8,786 ahead of the amount collected through October of last year.

Meanwhile, another significant source of revenue — the Use Tax — continues to confirm the popularity of online shopping long after the coronavirus pandemic ended. The Use Tax is a 1.325-cent sales tax applied to purchases made from out-of-state vendors, mostly sales made online, which became popular during the pandemic when shoppers essentially were homebound. Of that amount, 1 cent goes to county government and the .325-cent portion is allocated to the county’s Enhanced-911 program.

The Use Tax in October generated $48,127, down from the $58,777 received in September. So far this year, the Use Tax has generated $505,660 for county government, compared to the total amount of $569,199 received during 2024.

The 1-cent portion that goes to the county is divided among the county’s General Fund, the Road & Bridge Fund and the Sheriff’s Department.

Finally, the county’s third sales tax — the half-cent Law Enforcement Sales Tax (LEST) — has produced nearly $1 million already. Through October, the LEST has produced a total of $959,773. Of that amount, $719,830 has been directed to the Sheriff’s Department. Set aside for municipal police departments is $239,943.

The LEST is divided between the Sheriff’s Department and five municipal police agencies on a 75-percent-25-percent based on a city’s percentage of total municipal residents.

The October LEST reimbursement check is for $73,270, compared to the $70,207 received in September.

Last year, the LEST generated a total of $1,150,086.

The LEST was adopted by county voters in 2022.

Here are the October and year-to-date amounts received by the five municipalities in the revenue-sharing program: Owensville – $11,234; $110,373; Hermann – $8,792; $86,379; Bland – $1,853; $19,195; Rosebud – $1,709; $16,796; Gasconade – $732; $7,198.