HERMANN — In a somewhat inexplicable development, Gasconade County administrators saw two of the three primary tax revenue generators slump, one by a significant amount, while the third one posted a big jump over the previous month.

The General Fund Sales Tax, which produces most of the money county government uses to finance its operations, amounted to $93,941 in the April reimbursement check from the Missouri Department of Revenue. However, that figure includes whatever sales tax was generated the previous month through the sale of marijuana. Because the amount of tax produced by the 3-percent sales tax on marijuana is being handled as confidential information, it’s unclear how much of the almost $94,000 total is attributed to the marijuana tax.

The county’s March reimbursement check for the General Fund was $100,421; if the marijuana tax amount is more than $3,000 — one of the lower monthly amounts previously publicly reported by County Treasurer Mike Feagan — that means the regular General Fund Sales Tax would have produced substantially less than it did in the March check.

Regardless, the April check reflects one of the few large decreases in the month-to-month reimbursements seen by county officials since inflation began having a significant impact on local tax revenues.

Through the first four months of this year, the county has received $402,399, which is $4,808 less than the amount received through the first four months of last year.

The county’s half-cent Law Enforcement Sales Tax (LEST) also saw a noticeable dip from $67,015 in March to $62,343 in this month’s check. So far this year, the LEST has produced $275,126 for the county and $91,708 for the five municipalities that qualify for a share of 25 percent of the tax set aside for local police departments. Last year, the LEST produced a total amount of $1.128 million. Through the first four months of 2024, it has generated $366,834, which, if the pace holds, would produce slightly more than it did last year.

But while these two taxes have slipped, Gasconade County’s Use Tax — the sales tax applied to purchases made online from out-of-state vendors — continues to surprise county government officials. This month’s reimbursement check was almost $20,000 larger than the March amount — $56,537 to $36,820.

At this rate — $200,186 through the first four months — the Use Tax would produce significantly more than the $535,723 generated in 2023. County officials point out that the convenience of making online purchases remains popular with local consumers despite the fact that the coronavirus pandemic, which sparked the jump in online purchases, is now a couple years in the past.

Of the LEST revenue going to the five cities, here is a breakdown of this month’s allocations and the cities’ totals through the first four months: Owensville, $9,559, $42,186; Hermann, $7,481, $33,015; Bland, $1,662, $7,336; Rosebud, $1,454, $6,419; Gasconade, $623, $2,751.