HERMANN – Gasconade County government this month received the first of three hits it will be feeling in its General Sales Tax Fund, thanks to a refund of the sales tax paid by Hermann’s then-only marijuana dispensary.

The refund of about $46,000 paid by CODES dispensary, which has since left Hermann for Jefferson City, results from a court ruling that having to pay a 3-percent county sales tax and a 3-percent sales tax to the city of Hermann amounted to “stacking” of local taxes and was illegal. The ruling entitled CODES to seek a refund.

That money will be returned to the marijuana retailer through three withholdings from Gasconade County’s monthly General Sales Tax Fund reimbursements by the Missouri Department of Revenue. The first reimbursement of about $15,000 was made with the June reimbursement. The county’s June reimbursement amount was $98,353, which caught the attention of the County Commission after receiving slightly more than $103,000 in May.

County Treasurer Mike Feagan reminded the administrators about the withholding and said considering that action the June amount was a good one. Indeed, if the withholding had not been made, the county’s monthly amount would have been more than $111,000, which would have been the second-largest amount received this year.

The flip side of the withholding issue is that county government now can use the $46,000 of marijuana sales tax that it had set aside as it anticipated a potential successful challenge to the state initially allowing both a city and county sales tax to be applied to the sale of marijuana. Feagan said the $46,000 has been added to the county’s General Fund; that fund provides the bulk of money for providing county government services.

The General Fund Sales Tax thus far this year has produced $621,206, which is $2,681 more than the amount received during the first six months of last year. Again, Feagan noted, that amount would be higher if not for the withholding.

Meanwhile, the county’s Use Tax — the sales tax applied to purchases from out-of-state vendors, primarily purchases made online — continues to perform well. Although this month’s check was substantially below last month’s amount ($44,380 to $54,624), the Use Tax has generated $325,940 through the first six months of the year. That’s $28,042 more than the amount received during the first six months of last year.

In 2025, the Use Tax produced $611,768 for county government.

This tax also produces an amount — .325 cents on each dollar spent — for the county’s Enhanced-911 Program. Last year, the Use Tax generated about $200,000 for the E-911 Program.

The Law Enforcement Sales Tax (LEST) generated $7,031 for this month. That’s $7,000 more than the May amount and $1,300 more than last June’s amount. For the first six months of this year, the LEST has produced $437,205 for the county Sheriff’s Department and $145,735 for the five municipalities that take part in the revenue-sharing program. The half-cent sales tax revenue is divided 75 percent-25 percent between the county and the cities.

So far this year, the total amount received by the county and the cities is $582,940. Last year, the LEST produced a total of $1,145,786.

Here is the monthly and year-to-date breakdown on the amounts received by the cities: Owensville – $12,118, $67,028; Hermann – $9,483, $52,464; Bland – 2,102, $11,658; Rosebud – $1,844, $10,201; Gasconade – $780, $4,372.