HERMANN — The Gasconade County Commission Thursday morning is expected to place on the April 4 ballot a proposal for a 3-percent sales tax on marijuana. It would be the third sales tax issue put before county voters in the last three years.

A vote on a 3-percent sales tax for local counties and cities is allowed with the passage in November of Amendment 3 to the Missouri Constitution, which legalizes the sale of recreational marijuana. Amendment 3 also puts in place a 6-percent state sales tax that is not subject to statewide vote.

Many local governments in the region are wasting little time asking voters to approve a 3-percent sales tax. Hermann, however, is not among them. City Administrator Patricia Heaney told the Gasconade County Republican the Board of Aldermen in the county seat town is “taking a wait-and-see approach” before going to the voters.

Owensville City Administrator Randy Blaske last week told the County Commission that aldermen in that community were scheduled to take up a sales tax proposal at last night’s session. Next Tuesday, Jan. 24, is the deadline for local government entities to have issues placed on the April 4 General Municipal Elections ballot.

In neighboring Franklin County, at least four cities have adopted, or were scheduled in recent days to consider ordinances calling for a vote on the marijuana sales tax.

The newness of the legalization of marijuana — and the process for issuing licenses for retail sales — is making it difficult for local governments to project revenue from a sales tax.

In Gasconade County, voters approved a 1.325-cent use tax in 2021 that is being split between county government and the Enhanced-911 program. That tax is applied to sales made from out-of-state vendors, primarily sales made online. It generated $237,081 in 2022, the first full year of collection.

Last year, county voters approved a half-cent sales tax for law enforcement with the revenue being split 75-25 between the county and five of the county’s six municipalities. Approved last April, that tax didn’t become effective until October with the first — albeit small — reimbursement check of about $9,000 from the state arriving in November. The December check was for more than $73,000 with the county receiving $55,234 and the five cities sharing $18,411. The reimbursement check for this month, reflecting sales made in December, was for a more-normal amount of about $92,200.

The county’s General Fund half-cent sales has started the new year in especially strong fashion, although this January’s amount came in slightly less than for the same month last year. This month’s check is for $105,122 — the second-highest January amount in the past six years — compared to last January’s check of $106,177. This month’s check could be signaling the beginning of what would be the fourth consecutive record-setting year for General Fund sales tax.

The January reimbursement check for the use tax contained $26,851 for county government and $6,712 for the Enhanced-911 program. That compares to a total of $11,214 received last January.

The January check for the law enforcement sales tax of $92,275 will be divided with $69,206 going to county government and $23,068 allocated to the cities of Owensville, Hermann, Rosebud, Bland and Gasconade. The cities receive their portions based on population.