BY BUCK COLLIER

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

buckcollier210@gmail.com

HERMANN — Leaning heavily on receiving a favorable ruling on a controversial property tax-relief law adopted this year, Gasconade County officials Monday morning heard there is no specific fix to the potential problems facing counties in the work for the 2026 session of the Missouri General Assembly.

State Sen. Ben Brown, R-Washington, during a special session of the County Commission said he had concerns about Senate Bill 3, the measure signed into law by Gov. Mike Kehoe aimed at granting property tax relied for all homeowners, because it would treat Missouri’s counties differently regarding the allowable growth of property values in future years. Some counties could see the values — and subsequent property tax revenue  — by as much as 5 percent while other counties would be allowed zero-percent growth.

Critics of the measure, which was passed during this fall’s special session of the General Assembly after being attached to a larger bill aimed at giving financial breaks to keep the Kansas City Chiefs in Missouri, say it should be declared unconstitutional because of that difference. The law is being challenged by at least one of Missouri’s 114 counties. It was noted Monday morning by County Clerk Lesa Lietzow that outside legal counsel Ivan Schraeder had advised the County Commission to not initiate a lawsuit; rather, he advised, the county should continue to be patient and let the pending legal challenge play out.

However, the prospect of putting Senate Bill 3 in place throughout Missouri will be on the April 7 ballot. A simple majority will be needed for approval.

Presiding Commissioner Tim Schulte, R-Hermann, told Brown that the state law would hurt counties like Gasconade, which he said has done a good job managing taxpayer dollars.

“I feel like we run a pretty tight ship in Gasconade County,” Schulte said.

Brown agreed and offered an interesting take on why Senate Bill 3 was approved in the Senate.

“I expressed concern over the legality” of the legislation, he said. “I saw that right up front…because this isn’t applied evenly across the state,” he added. But, he noted, support for a tax break was strong in the Senate because of the widespread calls for relief from constituents even though this particular legislation indeed raised concerns among senators. Making it subject to an April vote was seen as a way to win support for the bill from those senators, such as Brown, who had concerns about its legality for the likelihood the legislation will be struck down in court, Brown declined to venture a guess.

“I try to stay clear of making predictions” regarding legal matters, he said.

Schulte told Brown this issue is just another example of the Missouri General Assembly adding to the responsibility of county government without providing financial support.

“I don’t like Jefferson City sending unfunded mandates down to the counties,” the presiding commissioner said.

Brown said he agreed and added that he would support legislation calling on state government to at least help fund the cost to counties of putting in place Senate Bill 3. Local officials estimate a significant price tag for the computer software needed to put in place and manage the provisions of the tax-relief law. An earlier version of a tax-relief program, Senate Bill 190 from two years ago, was indeed quickly put in place by some counties at a large expense, both for computer software and increased staff. Those counties, primarily the urban counties, reported experiencing significant problems in managing that program.

As with Senate Bill 3, Gasconade County decided to take a wait-and-see approach to Senate Bill 190 — a move hailed as wise in light of the adoption of Senate Bill 3, which appears to render Senate Bill 190 moot making it likely that those counties that did act will have to eat the cost of software and personnel.

Responding to County Assessor Julia Baker, Brown said he “would be open” to sponsoring legislation that would call on the state to cover the counties’ costs for implementing Senate Bill 3 — if it survives the legal challenge and is approved in the April vote.

“That’s promising,” Baker said, regarding Brown’s willingness to handle such legislation.

It was Baker’s analysis several weeks ago that showed more than $600,000 in property tax revenue that would be lost in the first year across all property tax-reliant political subdivisions in Gasconade County. While county government itself would lose only a small amount of money — because of its small property tax rate — other political entities stand to lose much more revenue. The biggest losers in this county would be the Gasconade County R-1 and R-2 school districts, given that they have the largest rates. However, others such as the Hermann Area District Hospital and Scenic Regional Library District would be among those losing a significant amount of revenue.

In other matters during the Commission’s special session — tomorrow’s session is canceled because it will be New Year’s Day — a pre-construction conference was held between the Commission, KJ Unnerstall and the Missouri Department of Transportation regarding work on the 2.8-mile section of the Rock Island Trail that runs through an unincorporated portion of the county east of Owensville.

KJ Unnerstall, which worked on the section of trail that runs through the city of Ownesville, will have 120 days to complete the work, which will extend from the eastern edge of Owensville to near Rosebud. The work will be funded with a state Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant.

The conference was moderated by Paul Winkelmann of Howe Company Engineering, the county’s consulting civil engineers. Winkelmann issued the Notice to Proceed as part of the conference, which clears the way for the contractor to begin clearing the brush from the abandoned Rock Island rail line.

“We want to get started on it,” said Kurt Unnerstall, noting that work would begin within the next week or two.

The conference did hold one new bit of information for the County Commission: Ownership will be transferred from the county to the Missouri Division of Parks after 20 years. During that two-decade period, the county will be responsible for maintaining the trail — something that surprised at least one of the county administrators.

“Did you guys know that?” asked Southern District Associate Commissioner Ron Hardecke, R-Owensville, looking at Schulte and Northern District Associate Commissioner Jim Holland, R-Hermann.

Schulte said the cost of maintaining the trail should be relatively small, essentially amounting to keeping brush away from the trail.