HERMANN — As the calendar heads into the final months of the year, Gasconade County’s sales taxes continue to surprise elected officials.

Indeed, as County Treasurer Mike Feagan noted, September’s reimbursement check turned out to be “another banner month” for the amount of revenue generated by the General Fund sales tax. The $112,076 generated through sales made in August was the largest amount received in September in the last six years.

With the September check, the county has received $896,733 for the first 9 months of the year. That’s $70,348 more than the amount received during the first 9 months of 2021. That bodes well for the county as officials anxiously watch to see if the year-end figure is a record amount. “We’re about a month ahead” in terms of revenue, Feagan said. If, by the end of the year, the county does receive more than $1,122,323, it will be the third straight year a record amount has been received.

But the General Fund sales tax is only part of the story. The use-tax revenue is outperforming even the most optimistic estimates. The county received $22,244 this month as its share of the revenue generated by the 1.325-cent sales tax applied to purchases made from out-of-state vendors. The treasurer noted that the county’s Enhanced-911’s share of the tax (.325-cent) will be about $10,000, which means the use-tax accounted for about $30,000 total.

For the year, the use-tax has generated $185,013 for the county’s General Fund. As voters were being asked to approve the tax last year, advocates of the tax were projecting perhaps $150,000. Based on amounts reported so far, the use-tax could generate more than $200,000.

Regarding the E-911 program, the annual bill the agency sends to the Gasconade County Sheriff’s Department could be significantly less than in previous years, thanks to the training of sheriff’s deputies on a state digital data base program. The deputies are being trained to use the MULES (Missouri Uniform Law Enforcement System) program for such things as checking license registrations, whether there are any active warrants for someone involved in a traffic stop. Now, those checks are requested through a call to E-911, which levies a charge for each call.

Presiding Commissioner Larry Miskel, R-Hermann, urged Sheriff Scott Eiler to look at ways to lower the county’s 911 bill.

In other matters, the County Commission unanimously agreed to renew its membership with Meramec Regional Planning Commission. As a member at the “Basic” level, the county receives 18 hours’ worth of MRPC staff work at no cost for such things as working on grant applications. Although the county had the option to purchase more hours, the Commission felt that wasn’t necessary. “Since I’ve been here, I don’t think we’ve exceeded the (18) hours and we’ve given some of them away,” said Miskel. He was referring to instances in past years in which the county donated some of its unused hours to a municipality or other government entity in need of MRPC’s help with a grant application.

The installation of those new courthouse doors ordered and paid for than a year ago might finally be on the horizon. County Clerk Lesa Lietzow reported that contractor Glen Englert told her the wood portion of the doors now are being crafted; the glass panels have yet to arrive at the producer, however. The doors should be built by the end of this month with the glass delivered sometime in October. “Hopefully, we’re looking at an October install date,” the clerk said.

The doors that will replace the aging wood doors on the courthouse’s main entrance were financed with $40,000 in CARES Act money and will be equipped with an automatic opener device – the feature that makes it an anti-COVID piece of equipment. CARES Act money also was used to purchase new hands-free water fountains on each floor of the courthouse.