HERMANN — Gasconade County Assessor Julia Baker last week followed through on a pledge to be more vocal to state lawmakers on behalf of county government, especially regarding efforts to cut or eliminate property taxes.

Baker attended and testified during early hearings by committees of the Missouri House of Representatives and State Senate. She described her day at the Capitol during last Thursday morning’s session of the Gasconade County Commission.

Becoming a greater advocate for county government by the officeholders who make up that government is a goal of Presiding Commissioner Tim Schmidt, R-Hermann. He and other county officials developed that belief after Senate Bill 3 was adopted and signed into law with little fanfare about its impact on county governments and county taxpayers.

Aimed at granting property tax relief to all homeowners throughout Missouri, SB3 carries a potentially large price tag for county taxpayers to put in place the law. The other primary concern is the loss of revenue by a county’s various political subdivisions from the state law freezing the amount of property tax at the 2024 level. School districts would be the entities hit the hardest by the revenue loss.

SB3, which is being challenged as being unconstitutional by several counties, is scheduled for a vote in April.

Baker noted that the assessors’ and county collectors’ state organizations are credited with doing a lot of work assessing the potential cost of Senate Bill 190 — the forerunner to SB3, which was adopted two years ago.

“They’ve done a lot of good work on SB 190 with a lot of the costs,” she said.

Property taxes and the role of county assessors were a topic of conversation of state legislators during her trip to Jefferson City, Baker said.

“They talked a lot about assessors and there were only two of us there” to testify to the committees, she said.

That prompted Schulte to raise an issue of concern for him and other county government administrators.

“Was MAC (Missouri Association of Counties) there?” he asked.

“No,” Baker replied.

“Doesn’t surprise me,” Schulte said.

The perceived lack of attention by MAC to SB3 and other legislation affecting counties is the primary reason a greater job of direct advocacy by county officeholders was strongly recommended by Schulte.

In other matters taken up during the Commission’s weekly session on Jan. 15, County Clerk Lesa Lietzow reported that only the final touches remain to be done to the county’s 2026 operating budget. The Commission is scheduled to sign off on a spending plan at its session next week.

Yet to be resolved is a question regarding the pay of the county’s public administrator. Public Administrator Kelly Brehe-Thomas argues that a recent change in state law should result in a boost to her pay. The county’s Salary Commission decided it should not. Attorneys for both sides have been discussing the issue, Lietzow said. “I asked that that (difference) be resolved this week,” the clerk said. “Otherwise, all decisions have been made” regarding the proposed funding of county government in 2026.

Lietzow said the proposed budget for 2026 was made available for public inspection on Monday.

In a clarification of an account of action in a previous session, Southern District Associate Commissioner Ron Hardecke, R-Owensville, noted that two of three county roads reported to be converted to a hard surface already are hard surface. Old Highway 19 and City Cemetery Road in Owensville will be receiving a 2-inch asphalt coat while Tappmeyer Road will have its gravel surface overlaid with a chip-and-seal coat.

That work will be done with money provided through a Community Development Bloc Grant (CDBG) of about $500,000. Two construction companies submitted bids; however, the county’s consulting engineering firm, Howe Company, learned that three bids were needed before a winning bid could be selected.

The engineering firm submitted project specifications to six construction companies, but only two responded. Howe Company last week was awaiting word from the state on whether the county could proceed considering that only two bids were received.