HERMANN – Using comments a week earlier from the top circuit judge regarding increased courthouse activity as a springboard, Gasconade County Presiding Commissioner Tim Schulte Thursday morning again raised the issue of parking lot expansion. And just as in recent weeks, he was met with opposition from the two associate commissioners who cited the cost of the revised plan.

Schulte, R-Hermann, raised the parking lot issue as the county administrators were discussing the remodel of office space for the incoming Recorder of Deeds. The new office is awaiting trim work and painting. The presiding commissioner tried yet again to get positive feedback from Northern District Associate Commission Jim Holland, R-Hermann, and Southern District Associate Commissioner Ron Hardecke, R-Owensville, on the proposed expansion of parking spaces.

“Is there any more discussion about parking lot expansion?” Schulte asked.

Holland was the first to respond. “I think we talked about it and I think we need a comprehensive plan” regarding the entire courthouse complex and grounds, he said. Holland said the revised parking plan – which would add about 20 spaces to the east side of the courthouse – would cut off access to the lower levels of the courthouse grounds through construction of a 20-foot retaining wall to allow the added parking.

The revised plan carries an estimated cost of about $800,000, compared to the original proposal of more parking spaces on both sides of the courthouse that had an estimated cost of $1.2 million.

When Schulte presented the revised plan he called it a compromise, faced with the hesitancy on the part of the associate commissioners and the support for more parking spaces by the various officeholders.

But Holland said the projected cost of the pared-down plan is “too much money for 20 parking spaces. That’s just my opinion.”

The presiding commissioner reminded the other administrators of 20th Circuit Presiding Judge Ryan Helfrich’s comments a week earlier that more activity is taking place at the courthouse – thanks to a beefed-up effort by police and prosecutors to bring cases to trial. “You just heard the judge tell you business is booming up here,” Schulte said.

Helfrich mentioned the need for more parking space in his discussion with the Commission, a talk that included a recommendation to hire more deputies and increase the pay of the prosecuting attorney to reflect a busier caseload being processed by the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and the Circuit Clerk’s Office. Helfrich hailed the Commission’s separation of the Circuit Clerk’s Office and the Recorder of Deeds Office as a way to allow the circuit clerk to focus more of her attention on the increasing caseload.

In the weeks since the parking lot expansion issue arose, Hardecke has maintained his reluctance because, he said again Thursday, his constituents say they are opposed to using that many tax dollars for the number of parking spaces contained in the proposal.

Holland says a comprehensive plan needs to conducted for the entire courthouse grounds complex, which should include structures on both ends of the courthouse grounds. One of the structures, known as the Doerr Building, near the corner of Schiller Street and 1st Street (Highway 100) for years has been used as storage space for county government-related materials previously stored in the courthouse. He said that to move forward with parking expansion “without a comprehensive plan is a disservice” to taxpayers.

The discussion prompted Presiding Commissioner-elect Mark Mundwiller to weigh in. Referring to Helfrich’s call for more deputies, more pay for the prosecuting attorney and additional parking, the incoming county chief said, “If we did everything he said, we’d be filing for bankruptcy.”

He based his comment on a discussion earlier in the Commission session in which it was noted a Cole County judge had ruled in favor of Senate Bill 3, which grants property tax relief to all homeowners, a move that’s widely expected to reduce revenue for all property tax-supported public agencies. The ruling on the constitutionality of Senate Bill 3 is expected to be appealed to the Missouri Supreme Court. How long it would take for the state’s high court to resolve the matter is unknown.

But in the meantime, Gasconade County voters on Tuesday were expected to approve Senate Bill 190, which gives property tax relief to homeowners 62 and older. County officials believe that Senate Bill 3, if ultimately upheld as being constitutional, would supercede Senate Bill 190 because it expands the property tax relief to all homeowners regardless of age.

Mundwiller said with that in mind and county officials expecting tighter budgets for the various county government departments, it’s unclear where dollars would be pulled to meet the additional costs. “It’s a question of where to get the money,” he said.

The start of November marks the beginning of the annual budget-making process for county government. After the various officeholders figure out how much they will need to provide services in the next year, the funding requests will be measured against projected revenues in the next year. The County Clerk’s Office will prepare a proposed operating budget for the County Commission to consider during December. A new operating budget for the county usually is approved in late January.