HERMANN – Expecting reduced state funding in the coming years --— coupled with reduced property tax revenue at the local level – the top administrator of the Gasconade County R-1 School District warned board members last week of substantial cuts or a push to raise the district’s tax rate.

Superintendent Geoff Neill told the directors of the Hermann Regional Economic Development (HRED) Corporation on Nov. 3 that state funding for this school year was reduced by $190 million from the amount that was recommended by the Department of Elementary & Secondary Education (DESE). Neill is one of the 15 members of the HRED Board of Directors.

The public school administrator voiced concern that reduced funding by the state might be something districts have to deal with in coming years.

“It’s not going to get better” in foreseeable future, he said.

While R-1 can withstand the cuts in the next year or so, thanks to what he described as prudent efforts by the school board to regularly increase its fund balances, the funding shortfall will catch up with the district. In that case, he said, the R-1 administration will be forced to “make drastic cuts or come to the taxpayers” for more revenue.

Neill told the HRED board that next school year’s operating budget could face a “full 10-percent cut across the board.” To this point, cuts in staffing that reflect the decrease in student enrollment have come through not replacing personnel who retire or leave the district for another position.

The local school district, like most other property tax-dependent local government agencies, will feel the effects of reduced dollars resulting from property tax relief granted by either Senate Bill 190 or Senate Bill 3, if the latter ultimately is upheld as being constitutional. SB 3, which grants property tax credits to all homeowners, was upheld recently after a legal challenge in Cole County Circuit Court. The ruling is expected to be appealed to the Missouri Supreme Court.

Neill and the superintendents of the other seven schools in the Four Rivers Conference jointly published a letter outlining the anticipated loss by each district resulting from reduced state funding. In that letter, the administrators urge residents to contact their state lawmakers about the funding concerns. (See related story.)

On another front, Hermann City Administrator Patricia Heaney told the panel that City Hall is preparing to present the Board of Aldermen with a proposal to increase water rates, which have not been raised in recent years. “They are woefully inadequate” to generate the revenue needed to fund the utility, she said.

Department of Public Works Director Jesse Geltz is scheduled to outline a rate proposal to the city’s Utility Advisory Board, which makes recommendations regarding the various utilities to the Board of Aldermen.

The HRED board also heard that another site for housing units might be available if a mobile home park off Highway 100 West near Tri-County Trucking is sold. HRED and the Hermann Area Chamber of Commerce are expected to send letters to the Hermann Planning & Zoning Commission to keep current zoning of the property intact to allow the site to be developed with housing units.

Chamber Executive Director Melissa Lensing reported that funding has been received from data center developers Amazon and Google that will be used to help fund a comprehensive housing study for the area. The Chamber has received $5,000 from Amazon and $10,000 from Google.

The next session of the HRED board is set for Tuesday, Dec. 8, in the R-1 Administration Building.