VIENNA — County Clerk Rhonda Rodgers shared the railroad and utilities tax figures for the year at the Oct. 12 Maries County Commission meeting.

This year, the county billed corporations a total of $1,220,864.29. Real estate taxes totaled $1,151,071.04. Personal property taxes totaled $69,793.25. The total increased by $161,729.10 from last year’s $989,341.94 total.

Of the total amount this year, $84,881 will go to the county’s General Revenue. Another $34,907 will go to Road One, and $21,152 will go to Road Two. The rest of the revenue will go to public entities in the county including schools, ambulance districts, fire protection districts, cities and libraries.

Also at the meeting, Treasurer Angie Stricklan reported the county’s sales tax figures so far this year.

In 2023 so far, the first sales tax fund has brought $299,745.37 to General Revenue compared to $276,468.06 at this time last year. October 2023 increased by about three percent from last October’s total.

The second sales tax, which gives one-third to each of General Revenue, Citizens Safety and Roads, has brought the county $297,900.97 in revenue so far this year. October 2023 increased by about three percent from the previous October.

The third sales tax has raised $297,900.79 in revenue this year. Two-thirds of the tax supports Citizen Safety. Roads and General Revenue split the other one-third. October 2023 increased by about three percent from the previous October.

The law enforcement sales tax has brought in $98,901.34 this year, which is $7,719.66 more than this time last year. October 2023 increased by about three percent from last October’s total.

The use tax on online orders has brought in $254,459.81 so far this year, which is more than last year’s $177,029.33 total for the whole year.

County Cemetery

The commission had another inquiry about a county-owned cemetery.

During the Oct. 12 meeting, Bill Watson, who owns property on both sides of Maries Road 620, called the county clerk’s office to ask about the county’s maintenance responsibilities for the cemetery on the property. Rodgers said he had told her that the cemetery had been in his family for generations, but the family at some point had transferred the land to the county. The cemetery is known as both Waters Cemetery and Bumpass Cemetery.

Neither Rodgers nor the commissioners knew the cemetery was county property. Rodgers asked Assessor Dana Simmons if the cemetery belonged to the county. Later, Simmons came to the meeting with a copy of a deed from 1927 that identified the cemetery as county property.

“I don’t know who’s taking care of it, but it’s always taken care of,” Western District Commissioner Ed Fagre said. “We’ve never touched it.”

The commissioners all agreed that if Watson wanted to petition for the return of the cemetery to the family, they would support it. Last month, the commission had the same stance about Bowles Cemetery after a member of that family asked if the commission would be interested in returning the cemetery to the family.

Later, Prosecuting Attorney Tony Skouby came to the meeting and the commission asked him for advice on how to respond to the request. He said to tell Watson that the county has never maintained the cemetery and has no plans to maintain the cemetery. He also said that if the commissioners would be open to a petition to give the land back to the family, they could include that in the response.

Rodgers sent a response to Watson. It said the county had not maintained the cemetery and did not plan to maintain the cemetery. It also said the county would be open to deeding the cemetery back to the family.

Garden Grant

University of Missouri Extension Nutrition Program Associate Dawn Hicks came to the Oct. 10 meeting to let the commission know the Maries County Extension office had received a gardening grant. The grant will help establish community gardens in a few different locations around the county.

As part of the grant, MU Extension will help set up a greenhouse at Bland Middle School. Four raised garden beds will go to Belle High School to join the four beds the school already has. Hicks said she hopes an afterschool garden club will start in Belle. She added she is working on expanding the community garden programs in the county to include more schools, but it will take time.

Hicks said she planned to talk with the Vichy Park Board and the Vichy Volunteer Fire Department on Oct. 16 to set up a community garden in Vichy.

Fagre asked what happens to the produce grown in community gardens.

Hicks said the students growing food at school may take home their produce. The produce from the school gardens may also go back into the schools. The schools cannot charge students for the food from the garden. If the school gardening programs go well, students could even take their produce to the local fairs for competition.

In a larger community garden, growers may take home what they produce. Hicks said MU Extension could potentially bring in experts to discuss preservation and recipes for the food grown in the garden.

“We’re getting a lot of things up and going, and you’re going to see a lot of things happening,” Hicks said.

Fish Hollow

The commissioners spent time during the Oct. 12 meeting going through old tax records in preparation for the following day’s trial concerning the Fish Hollow Access to the Gasconade River (see related story).

The commissioners began the Oct. 16 meeting by talking about their appreciation for the members of the public who came to the courtroom to watch the trial and testify. About 45 people attended the trial.

The court will issue a ruling following review of the proposed findings and conclusions. Each party has 30 days from the time of the trial to submit the documents.