HERMANN – Here’s something not heard around the Gasconade Courthouse in a long while: The county’s General Fund Sales Tax revenue is running behind the amount collected at this time last year.

Yet, there it is. Thanks to the second round of more than $15,000 being withheld from the county’s monthly General Fund Sales Tax reimbursement from the state, the year-to-date total amount received has fallen below the level of the revenue received during the first seven months of last year.

The county’s July check from the Missouri Department of Revenue was for $88,786, almost $10,000 below the amount received in June — the first month of the withholding — and it was about $17,000 less than the amount received in July of last year.

The withholding is taking place because a court ruled that a marijuana retailer, unlike other retailers, is not subject to both city sales tax and county sales tax and was due a refund of the taxes paid to county government. After the sale of marijuana was legalized, Gasconade County had only one outlet, CODES in Hermann. Within the last year or so, CODES moved from Hermann to Jefferson City after paying $46,000 to the county in sales tax.

Mindful that a lawsuit challenging a county’s sales tax on marijuana purchases might be a financial hit to a local government’s budget, the Gasconade County Commission decided to not include the sales taxes paid by CODES in its annual budget, setting it aside in case a refund was authorized.

But given a choice of making a one-time $46,000 refund or having the money refunded by the Department of Revenue through a series of withholdings from the county’s half-cent General Fund Sales Tax monthly reimbursement, the County Commission opted for the three-month take back.

The August reimbursement check will include the third and final withholding for the refund.

As it stands after seven months, the General Fund Sales Tax has generated $709,993, putting the year-to-date total at $14,000 below the amount received during the same period last year. That means the tax will need to produce slightly more than $100,000 a month in each of the remaining five months or the county might not see another record-setting year for General Fund revenue.

Last year, the General Fund Sales Tax produced $1,240,668.

While the reduced amount of General Fund Sales Tax might be disappointing, county administrators were pleasantly surprised by the amount of revenue generated by the Use Tax. The sales tax applied to purchases made from out-of-state vendors (primarily online purchases), the Use Tax generated a whopping $80,663 — $36,000 more than it produced a month earlier and $33,000 more than was generated in July of last year.

County Treasurer Mike Feagan told the County Commission Thursday morning that he thinks the large number reflects a big purchase by a factory or company within the county. The purchase of an expensive piece of equipment would explain the much-larger-than-usual monthly reimbursement. He called the Use Tax amount “amazing.”

This month’s check was the second-largest Use Tax check received since the tax was approved by county voters in 2021. The largest monthly amount was $93,747 received in August 2023.

So far this year, the Use Tax has produced $406,603 for county government; that’s $60,827 more than was received during the first seven months of last year. For 2025, the Use Tax generated $611,768.

It should be noted that a portion of the 1.325-cent Use Tax is allocated to the county’s Enhanced-911 Program. The rest of the Use Tax is divided among the county’s General Fund, Road & Bridge Fund and the Gasconade County Sheriff’s Department.

Regarding the sheriff’s agency, Feagan reported that the Law Enforcement Sales Tax (LEST) slipped in the July check to $73.875. That compares with $79,031 received last month and $74,810 received in July of last year.

Thus far this year the LEST has generated $511,080 for the Sheriff’s Department and $170,360 for the five municipalities that take part in the revenue-sharing program. The municipalities of Owensville, Hermann, Bland, Rosebud and Gasconade each receive a share, based on population, of 25 percent of the total amount raised by the LEST.

Last year, the tax generated $859,340 for the Sheriff’s Department and $286,446 for the five cities for a grand total of $1,145,786.

Here is the breakdown for the amounts received this month and for the year to date for the five cities: Owensville – $11,327, $78,365; Hermann – $8,865, $61,329; Bland – $1,970, $13,628; Rosebud – $1,723, $11,925; Gasconade – $738, $5,110.