HERMANN – Gasconade County’s half-cent General Fund Sales Tax has moved the bottom line to within sight of the $1-million mark and has positioned the county to reach another revenue milestone.

The September reimbursement check from the Missouri Department of Revenue is for $112,389 – the second-largest monthly reimbursement since February’s check of $126,914. This month’s amount brings the county’s year-to-date total to $934,362.

That’s only $911 behind the amount received in the first nine months of last year, a shortfall attributed to the county having to reimburse about $46,000 in marijuana sales tax to the former marijuana retailer in Hermann. That refund was provided through three monthly withholdings made by the Department of Revenue; those withholdings resulted in fewer-than-usual sales tax dollars received in June, July and August.

With three months of reimbursement checks remaining to come in, the county’s General Fund Sales Tax is poised to exceed last year’s total of $1.240 million.

Meanwhile, the county’s Use Tax produced $53,518 for September’s reimbursement amount. The Use Tax is the sales tax that’s applied to purchases made from out-of-state vendors, primarily purchases made online. Thus far this year, the Use Tax has generated $520,677. That’s $63,144 more than was received during the first nine months of 2025.

Last year, the Use Tax produced a total of $611,768; that was only the fourth full year of the tax being in place. Approved by voters in April 2021, the Use Tax – initially projected to raise perhaps $200,000 a year by county administrators – produced $237,000 in its first full year and it has grown substantially in each succeeding year, providing evidence that online sales remains strong long after the coronavirus pandemic has passed.

A portion of the Use Tax is allocated to the Gasconade County Enhanced-911 program. Last year, that allocation amounted to about $200,000, according to E-911 Administrator Michael Lockhart.

The county’s third source of sales tax revenue is the Law Enforcement Sales Tax (LEST), which is dedicated to the Gasconade County Sheriff’s Department. One-fourth of the amount generated by the LEST is distributed to five of the county’s municipalities for use by their police agencies. That distribution is based on the cities’ populations.

In September the LEST generated $79,239, compared to $90,856 received in August. However, it is $2,000 more than was received in September of 2025.

Thus far this year, the LEST has produced $908,247. Of that, the Sheriff’s Department has received $681,185 while the cities of Owensville, Hermann, Bland, Rosebud and Gasconade have received portions from $227,061.

In 2025, the LEST generated a total of $1,145,785.

Here is the breakdown of the amounts received by the cities in September and for the year-to-date: Owensville – $12,150, $104,448; Hermann – $9,508, $81,742; Bland – $2,113, $18,164; Rosebud – $1,848, $15.894; Gasconade – $792, $6,811.

In reviewing the disbursements to the cities, County Treasurer Mike Feagan Thursday morning mentioned to the County Commission that he is confused why Hermann City Hall is reluctant to provide a School Resource Officer (SRO) to the schools in the Gasconade County R-1 District. “For Hermann to say they can’t put an officer out at the schools is nuts, because we give them enough money,” the treasurer said.

The R-1 administration has been trying for some time to obtain a SRO from the city, but so far has been unsuccessful. Now, the district is applying for a COPS grant to fund a resource officer.