HERMANN — More than a week after voters approved it, the half-cent sales tax supporting law enforcement throughout Gasconade County became official Thursday morning.

The County Commission signed the necessary documents clearing the way for the collection of the tax by the Missouri Department of Revenue (DOR).

Among the paperwork being sent to the DOR is an order accepting the certification of the balloting, which saw the tax approved by a healthy margin, 54.6 percent to 45.4 percent, on a turnout of about 20 percent of the county’s 10,612 registered voters.

The documents were sent by certified mail to the state revenue agency on Friday.

“I’ve got all this gathered together and am ready to send it,” County Clerk Lesa Lietzow told the Commission. As an aside, she noted that her office already has been fielding phone calls from some bed-and-breakfast operators booking rooms for later in the year as to when they begin including the sales tax in their charges.

The law enforcement sales tax becomes effective Oct. 1., which means the first time any of the new revenue will be seen will be with the November reimbursement check from DOR. Until businesses become fully aware of the new tax and its effective date, county government officials don’t expect full-size reimbursement amounts until possibly after the first of the coming year.

Meanwhile, Presiding Commissioner Larry Miskel, R-Hermann, last week repeated his position that the municipalities wanting a portion of the sales tax should notify the county in writing. Of the county’s six municipalities, five can take part in the revenue-sharing plan that would set aside 25 percent of the half-cent tax’s total amount for city police departments. Those cities are Owensville, Hermann, Rosebud, Gasconade and Bland, all of which are patrolled by a certified law enforcement officer. Morrison relies on the Sheriff’s Department for police protection.

Intergovernmental agreements will be used to spell out how much of the 25-percent will be allocated to each city.

“My intent is, before the county drafts an agreement, I want to know if the cities want to participate,” Miskel said. “I still want to know if they want to participate. If they don’t want to participate, why should we draft an agreement and go through all of that? I want some kind of official documentation because of what we went through to get where we’re at.”

Miskel was referring to the sometimes contentious meeting just before the election in which Hermann city officials argued for a larger piece of the 25-percent pie. At that Commission session, Hermann City Administrator Patricia Heaney questioned not only the amount the county seat community would receive, but also the ballot language.

The opposition prevailed in the three Hermann-area precincts — the only precincts out of the county’s 16 polling places to vote against the ballot issue. In Ward 1 the issue lost by 39 votes; in Ward 2 it lost by only 4 votes; and in Little Berger Precinct, which includes areas around the city of Hermann, the measure lost by 12 votes.

In Owensville, some city officials voiced opposition to the sales tax, but voters in the city’s two precincts supported the issue. Ward 1 voters favored the sales tax by 15 votes and in Ward 2 they supported it by 24 votes.

Election night watchers at the courthouse got an early indication of the outcome when the absentee tally favored the tax by almost a 2-to-1 margin, 41 in favor to 22 against, a 65-percent favorable vote.

But the largest margin of support came in Rosebud where voters supported the issue by a vote of 60-17, a 78-percent to 22-percent showing, and in the Bland/Canaan Precinct, where voters posted a 66.7-percent favorable vote. Likewise, in Redbud 62 percent of the voters favored the sales tax.

Based on the performance of the county’s General Revenue sales tax in the past couple years, it’s estimated the half-cent tax for law enforcement will generate about $1 million. Sheriff Scott Eiler said the money will be used to increase the pay of deputies, more training and other departmental expenses.