County sales tax for law enforcement set for April ballot vote

By Buck Collier, Special Correspondent
Posted 1/5/22

HERMANN — Gasconade County voters will be asked in April to approve a half-cent sales tax for local law enforcement.

An order placing the issue on the April 5 General Municipal Elections …

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County sales tax for law enforcement set for April ballot vote

Posted

HERMANN — Gasconade County voters will be asked in April to approve a half-cent sales tax for local law enforcement.

An order placing the issue on the April 5 General Municipal Elections ballot was adopted Thursday morning by the County Commission. Based on the money generated by the county’s General Revenue Fund sales tax this year, a half-cent law enforcement tax could generate about $1 million.

According to the proposal outlined by Sheriff Scott Eiler, the revenue from the sales tax would be split 75 percent-25 percent with Owensville, Hermann, Rosebud, Bland and Gasconade — the five cities that have certified law enforcement officers. Distribution of revenue to the five cities will be subject to intergovernmental agreements reached between county government and the individual municipalities.

According to the county’s outside legal counsel, if an agreement cannot be reached with a specific city, the amount that would be allocated to that city would be returned to the 25-percent portion earmarked for the cities and distributed among the municipalities that do reach an agreement with the county. The cities’ portion of the funding would allocated according to population, officials said.

County Clerk Lesa Lietzow Thursday morning said the law enforcement sales tax proposal is one of four items expected to be on the April 5 ballot, so far. The others are school board member elections in the Gasconade County R-1 and R-2 districts and board of trustee positions for the Gasconade County Health Department. Other agencies that might be considering a ballot issue in April have until Jan. 25 to place an issue on the ballot.

As outlined in the Commission order, the law enforcement revenue can be used in a variety of areas: Operating expenses, additional personnel, personnel expenses, equipment and capital improvements. Further, if a municipality passes a citywide law enforcement tax, it will forfeit its percentage and that amount would be added to the funding going to the Gasconade County Sheriff’s Department.

The proposed revenue sharing is being offered as an incentive for the municipalities to support the ballot issue. While Owensville officials reportedly have endorsed the proposal, Hermann officials reportedly have not. According to county government administrators, Hermann officials feel their city should receive a larger share of the municipalities’ portion.

The law enforcement proposal issue will be the first item on the April 5 ballots, Lietzow said.

In other matters at last week’s Commission session, the administrative panel held its first hearing in the process of crafting the 2022 operating budget. Lietzow, the county’s chief budget officer, noted that all spending requests from the various county government departments are due in the County Clerk’s Office by tomorrow (Jan. 6). Lietzow and the commissioners will be working on the budget for the next two to three weeks with adoption of a new spending plan expected later in the month.

County pay increases

Thanks to a strong showing in 2021 by the General Revenue Fund sales tax, county government employees will be receiving a 4-percent pay raise, along with the normal 5-cent-per-hour raise. Yet to be decided is whether the officeholders will receive a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) to their salaries. Such an increase was approved in November by the county’s Salary Commission — if the operating budget could afford it.

How large a COLA might is unclear. However, Presiding Commissioner Larry Miskel, R-Hermann, told the Salary Commission, which is comprised of all elected county government officials, that whatever the amount is it won’t be equal to the high inflation rate, which recently was put at over 6 percent.

Commissioners are scheduled to meet at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 6, at Owensville City Hall. County Commission meetings are held the first Thursday of the month at the Owensville site.