HERMANN – As expected, Gasconade County voters last Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a property tax credit program for homeowners 62 and older.

The state law known as Senate Bill 190, which was subject to a county-by-county approval, was endorsed by more than 80 percent of Gasconade County voters. The final unofficial margin was 83 percent in favor and 17 percent opposed.

In last Tuesday’s General Elections, the county’s voters also formally elected eight county government officeholders. All were running unopposed; only one was opposed in the August Primary Elections.

Scheduled to take the Oath of Office and begin a four-year terms on Jan. 1 are Presiding Commissioner-elect Mark Mundwiller, County Clerk-elect Danielle Norsic, County Collector Glenda Shockley; County Treasurer-elect Natasha Hessemann; Circuit Clerk Jennifer Schneider; Recorder of Deeds-elect Jessica Diebal; Prosecuting Attorney Mary E. Weston; and Division 4 Associate Circuit Court Judge Ada Brehe-Krueger.

Shockley is an incumbent, having been appointed to the post earlier this year after the early retirement of longtime Collector Shawn Schlottach. Schneider also is an incumbent, as is Weston.

Diebal will be Gasconade County’s first Recorder of Deeds. The County Commission this summer separated the office of Circuit Clerk & Recorder of Deeds into separate departments, clearly delineating the Circuit Clerk’s Office, a state government office, and the Recorder’s Office, a county government office.

Like the local Associate Circuit Court judge, the circuit clerk is an employee of the state courts system although they are elected by county voters. Their departments’ employees are county government employees.

Mundwiller, a Hermann-area resident, made first foray into countywide politics this year, successfully challenging incumbent Presiding Commissioner Tim Schulte of Hermann for the Republican nomination.

Regarding the property tax credit ballot issue, county officials anticipate a loss of revenue for all public service agencies that levy a property tax. That includes school districts, the Hermann Area District Hospital, Scenic Regional Library District, ambulance districts and other agencies.

Possibly yet to be determined is whether SB 190 will be replaced by the more-encompassing property tax-credit program in SB 3, which has been ruled constitutional by the Cole County Circuit Court and awaiting possible appeal to the Missouri Supreme Court. SB 3, which Gasconade County voters approved in the April General Municipal Elections, grants the property tax credit to all homeowners regardless of age.

The approval of SB 190 last week was promoted as a safeguard against the failure of SB 3 to pass muster with the courts.

The base year for figuring the amount of credit a homeowner would receive is 2024, the year in which the Missouri General Assembly passed and Gov. Mike Kehoe signed SB 190. It’s projected by county officials that for an individual homeowner, the credit will be a relatively small amount, but if the program is applied for widely by homeowners, the credit will amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars lost by the various tax-supported agencies.

The County Commission Thursday morning authorized County Assessor Julia Baker and County Collector Glenda Shockley to order the necessary compute software needed to administer the property tax-credit program. The total cost for both offices is projected to be about $25,000-$30,000, much less than the initial estimate of the price tag for the software.

The Commission also agreed that applications for the credit will be a one-time requirement, not made annually as some counties decided. A notable sidebar to this year’s General Elections is that it is the last balloting conducted by the retiring County Clerk Lesa Lietzow during a career that spanned 44 years and about 90 various elections. She was recognized for her service to county residents during last month’s Meramec Regional Planning Commission’s Annual Dinner and Awards Ceremony.

Lietzow also was recognized during Thursday morning’s Commission session in Owensville City Hall by Northern District Associate Commissioner Jim Holland, R-Hermann. That session also was the last one in Owensville that Lietzow will attend before her retirement; she said she would be unable to attend the December session in Owensville, turning over the unofficial minutes notepad to County Clerk-elect Danielle Norsic.