HERMANN — Gasconade County officials were thrown a big financial curve ball last week with the December General Fund Sales Tax check from the state — a much smaller amount than is normally seen to close out the year.

The December reimbursement check from the Missouri Department of Revenue is for $88,401, far below the $111,259 received in November and the smallest monthly check received this year. Indeed, the size of this month’s check prompted County Treasurer Mike Feagan to tell the County Commission he would quickly try to determine why the amount was so small.

Also, he said, Gasconade County is not alone in receiving a much smaller-than-anticipated December check.

“A couple counties are more than 20 percent down,” he said. “It makes us wonder what’s going on. We are not alone,” he added.

One explanation that might be given to Feagan when he talks with Revenue Department officials is that some General Fund Sales Tax dollars was withheld to provide a refund to the marijuana retailer who several months ago departed Hermann for Jefferson City. With the so-called “stacking” of a county sales tax on top of a city sales tax ruled illegal, marijuana outlets were afforded an opportunity to receive a refund of the sales taxes they paid to counties. However, state government might remain tight-lipped as to the sharp drop in the monthly reimbursement.

“I’m looking into the sales tax thing,” Feagan said.

Despite the drop, the county’s General Fund Sales Tax — the primary source of money to pay for county government operations — hit a new level. At $1,240,668, this year’s total is $6,348 more than the 2025 total of $1,234,320. And, as Feagan noted, that total number might grow some if it’s determined that Gasconade County, like the other counties he referred to, were somehow shorted in their monthly reimbursement. This year is the fourth consecutive year the General Fund Sales Tax has topped $1.2 million. In 2021, the tax generated $1.122 million.

Meanwhile, the county’s Use Tax topped the $600,000 mark this year — a level county officials never thought possible when the tax was approved by voters in April of 2021. This month’s Use Tax check is for $54,534 — $16,000 more than the December 2024 amount of $38,431. This year’s total of $611,768 is a whopping $42,568 more than the 2024 total of $569,199.

The Use Tax has proven to be a significant source of revenue not only for general county operations, but also the Road Department and the Sheriff’s Department. The County Commission early this year decided to divide the Use Tax revenue among the three funds.

When the tax was approved, after failing in six earlier votes, county officials estimated it might raise between $150,000 and $200,000. It exceeded that estimate in its first full year of collections, totaling $237,081. It increased by $300,000 the next year, 2023, to a total of $535,723. The Use Tax is the sales tax applied to purchases made from out-of-state vendors, mostly online purchases that took hold during the coronavirus pandemic. Any thoughts that online buying would wane with the passing of the pandemic was quickly dispelled, as seen by the amount of Use Tax revenue generated this year.

A portion of the Use Tax is dedicated to the Gasconade County Enhanced-911 Program. It was support from the E-911 Program that helped sway voters to approve the Use Tax, county administrators acknowledge.

The county’s third sales tax, the Law Enforcement Sales Tax (LEST), experienced a down year, coming in at $1,145,786, compared to last year’s total of $1,150,086. The December LEST check was for $60,890, $18,000 less than the amount received in November. The total amount for the year going to the Gasconade County Sheriff’s Department is $859,340, about $3,000 less than the amount going to the agency in 2024.

This year’s total amount going to the five municipalities participating in the revenue-sharing program is $286,446, about $1,000 less than what they received a year ago. The LEST is divided on a 75-25 basis between the county and the cities.

Here are the December and 2025 amounts for each of the five municipalities: Owensville – $9,336, $131,765; Hermann – $7,306, $103,120; Bland – $1,623, $22,915; Rosebud – $1,420, $20,051; Gasconade – $608, $8,593.