HERMANN — Gasconade County’s government’s bank account grew a good bit larger this month with the arrival of the largest monthly General Fund Sales Tax check ever received. The August reimbursement check — along with two other countywide sales taxes producing substantial amounts of revenue —is for $115,189, an amount that officials say reflects a healthy local economy.

“A great month for sales tax,” said County Treasurer Mike Feagan in presenting his monthly report Thursday morning to the County Commission. “It’s the highest since I’ve been tracking” monthly sales tax reimbursement checks from the Missouri Department of Revenue, he added.

The August amount was more than $14,000 larger than the amount received in July. The August check essentially reflects retail sales made during July. Of the eight monthly checks received this year, the August amount is the fifth one of $100,000 or more.

The county’s total General Fund Sales Tax revenue this year stands at $814,749, $30,000 more than the amount collected at this point last year. The 2022 year-end amount was $1,200,185, the third straight record year for General Fund Sales Tax revenue. This year’s receipts are on track to reach a fourth consecutive record level.

But, as County Clerk Lesa Lietzow reminded the Commission, this silver lining comes attached to a cloud: The increase in sales tax revenue means a cut to this year’s property tax rate which will result in fewer property tax dollars.

The Commission will set this year’s property tax rate later this month. Under state law, a county government must reduce its property tax revenue when it has significant gains in sales tax dollars. It should be noted that county government, unlike school districts and other property tax-receiving political subdivisions, must roll back its property tax rate to reflect the increase in sales tax revenue. Schools and the other political subdivisions can waive a roll back and receive the extra money generated by any increased property values in the county, but county government cannot. It is the only local government that does not have the rollback waiver option.

Also, the county clerk said, while another record-setting year of General Fund Sales Tax is on the horizon, she doubts the total amount that will be received will reach the amount projected in this year’s operating budget.

“I don’t think we’re going to get over $1.240 (million),” she said, reciting the projection contained in this year’s spending blueprint.

The higher projection — $40,000 more than the $1.200 million received in 2022 — is somewhat unusual for county officials who tend to estimate more conservative amounts of money.

Meanwhile, the countywide Use Tax — the sales tax applied to purchases made from out-of-state vendors, primarily through online orders — produced a staggering amount last month. The August reimbursement check was for more than $100,000 — $93,742 for county government and about $20,000 for the county’s Enhanced-911 Program. For county government, the Use Tax thus far this year has produced $348,957. The 1.325-cent sales tax is split between county government and E-911 with the county receiving 1 cent and 911 receiving the .325-cent portion. The August amount for the county compares to the $58,397 received in July.

The Use Tax, which was approved in April 2021 after being rejected a half-dozen times in the past decade, has proven to be a significant revenue generator. County administrators were unsure of what to expect, estimating potential annual revenue of as little as $150,000. But with online shopping exploding during the last couple years of the coronavirus pandemic, revenue mounted quickly. The tax produced $237,081 last year and the tax is on track to generate $400,000 or more this year.

Feagan said increased Use Tax is being seen around the state.

“Several other treasurers noticed that starting last month their Use Tax is a lot higher,” he said.

The other major countywide sales tax — the Law Enforcement Sales Tax (LEST) — did well, also, Feagan reported. The LEST produced a total of about $107,000 last month. Of that, $78,195 is directed to county government to bolster the Sheriff’s Department while the remainder is divided among the five municipalities receiving a share of the 1-cent sales tax.

The $78,195 is the largest amount going to the county of any month since the tax took effect in October 2021.

For the year, the LEST has produced a total of $738,821 with $184,705 going to the municipalities, the treasurer’s report shows.

Based on the county’s General Fund Sales Tax, county officials had estimated the LEST would bring in about $1 million a year. However, the county clerk is a bit skeptical of that figure, primarily because the wording of the LEST ballot issue did not make the tax applicable to utility sales, unlike other sales taxes. That means slightly less will be generated by the LEST.

“I’m guessing $800,000,” Lietzow told the Commission. The budget had projected LEST revenue of $900,000.

Sheriff Scott Eiler’s plan was to the use the sales tax funds — designed to supplement the amount appropriated out of the General Fund revenue to the agency — to provide higher pay for deputies and other department expenses. So, Lietzow said, the Sheriff’s Department has put the new revenue to use, basically spending what’s coming in and not able to bank the revenue.

“He’s looking at a lot of things on the expense side this year,” the county clerk said of the sheriff. “We need to be mindful of this during the next budget process,” she added.

County elected officials will begin submitting their departments’ budget requests in November with a proposed operating budget crafted by the County Clerk’s Office during the final weeks of the year after all revenue and expenses for the year are in hand. The County Commission will fine tune the spending plan after the first of the year and adopt a new budget by the end of January.

Even though several months are left on the calendar, Lietzow said it’s not too soon to begin watching more closely the revenue and expense figures.

“We’re getting down to the end of the year to where we need to pay attention” to the numbers, she said.