HERMANN – Gasconade County R-1 Superintendent Geoff Neill appears to be preparing his district’s Board of Directors for possibly some unpleasant financial times in the coming years.

Not the next school year; the 2026-27 school year seems to be in good shape. After that, he cautions, is anybody’s guess — especially if changes to school funding from the state and continued efforts to erode the tax base are successful. Neill put it simply in a report about his preliminary work on the district’s operating budget in the 2027-28 school year:

“The main features are the loss of local revenue through the potential passage of Senate Bill 3 — this freezes local (property) assessment at the year 24-25. As we are primarily locally funded, this, along with projected cuts to transportation and the Foundation Formula at the state level, leads us to some potentially devastating losses.”

Indeed, his early work on the 27-28 budget shows a deficit of more than $397,000. That’s a worst-case scenario Neill is painting for his board; but, with an apparent little regard among state legislators for the potential loss of revenue, his concern seems valid.

“For the 2027-28 fiscal year, we will need to make serious cuts to all programs and operations,” the superintendent said in his report to the directors at last Thursday’s regular monthly session of the school board.

His reference to the passage of Senate Bill 3 is about the countywide April 7 ballot proposal of the property tax-relief measure approved last year by the Missouri General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Mike Kehoe. The implications of Senate Bill 3 have been at the forefront of discussions by public school districts, county governments, the Hermann Area District Hospital and all other property tax-dependent public agencies. One estimate of the potential impact of SB 3 in Gasconade County is a total loss of more than $600,000 among all taxing political subdivisions.

Although SB 3 is on the April ballot — at the direction of state government — a lawsuit is challenging the legality of the measure. Gasconade County has joined other counties in that lawsuit.

Meanwhile, as school board members ponder the possibility of the substantial loss of revenue, they are being asked to expand the district roster of extracurricular sports by adding soccer to the mix. At last week’s board session, Kacie Ulhorn represented several parents and supporters in asking that soccer be made part of varsity sports.

The board took no action on the request.