Pettis County Commission Presents 2025 Apps For Half-cent Sales Tax Revenue to Municipalities

Pettis County’s application for a share of revenue from a county-wide half-cent sales tax was presented to representatives of Sedalia, La Monte and Smithton on Wednesday morning at the Pettis County Courthouse, 415 South Ohio.

The deadline for the 2025 application is 5 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 31.

Each project request requires a separate application, it was noted.

The purpose of the sales tax is for infrastructure improvements such as street, sewer, water and stormwater projects in Pettis County. The money cannot be used for employee salaries and benefits.

Most of the 75-minute meeting was spent with County commissioners arguing with Sedalia City Administrator Kelvin Shaw about the 2024 money, which the City never received.

Typically, Sedalia receives $365,400 annually from the fund, which usually totals around $750,000.

But this year was different.

After the City sued the County, the County passed a resolution stating that any municipality that has pending legal action against Pettis County will not receive any funding.

Shaw repeatedly asked the Commission, and Eastern Commissioner Israel Baeza in particular, if Sedalia would ever receive the 2024 funding.

Baeza’s response was “let’s look forward to 2025.” He would not answer the question directly, to Shaw’s chagrin.

“We want them to take this application very seriously. We’re taking it very seriously, because it’s money we’re tasked with safeguarding, pretty much. So when we’re allocating those funds, we want to make sure we know exactly where the money’s going. I think the taxpayers would appreciate that. They want to know where the money’s going. We understand that it was the first round, there’s going to be things we can adjust for the second round. Overall, we heard some very positive comments from most of the entities,” commented Baeza.

Baeza suggested that the City keep their expectations reasonable. “Your ‘ask’ needs to stay within the allocated amount,” he added.

The budget cycle for the County is different than the budget cycle for the City. “Our fiscal year starts January 1. Their fiscal year starts, I believe, in April. Now they have from here to Jan. 1 … most entities found it a very reasonable time frame,” Baeza said, adding that he feels Sedalia has some bigger challenges due to a larger infrastructure “and the way they conduct their meetings.”

The City of Sedalia will conduct budget meetings and set priorities for the upcoming year on Jan. 11.

According to Fourth Ward Councilman Steve Bloess, who also attended Wednesday’s meeting, the City’s budget is finalized in mid-March. He noted that the City and County can work together and make the deadline and update the request later, if needed. Bloess also noted that the City is eating into its reserve funds and there is a possibility that the City’s financial rating will go down as a result. He promised to return Friday (Oct. 11) at 8:30 a.m., to discuss the matter further.

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As for filling out the application request for funds, Pettis County Presiding Commissioner Bill Taylor said “It’s not that complicated.”

Taylor said that he is willing to sit down with Council members anytime. “We asked four or five times for a meeting. The ball’s in your court,” he told Shaw.

Shaw asked Baeza if there’s potential for more than $365,400 to be awarded this year. Baeza’s response was “yes, but the flip side is, you may get less.”

He stressed that the County will not be rolling over unspent funds into the next year.  “We make it simple on purpose. Rank your projects – all of you.”

A typo on the form’s cover page was discovered during that meeting. The term “sidewalks” was removed and new forms were printed for everyone.

The County Road & Bridge tax has been in place since 2000.

“Up until last year, there was an allocation that was made to each of the municipalities within, in accordance with the ballot language. And it’s been the same amount every year to each,” Shaw said. “Sedalia was receiving $365,400 every year, just like clockwork, actually it was $91,300 every quarter.

Due to the legal action taken by the City, the County withheld payments. “They’ve been withholding them (the checks) since April of 2023,” Shaw said. It was intercepted and confiscated.

The City submitted an application for 2024 funds. “They evidently did not like our application,” Shaw said, adding that the County indicated it would pay for 10 percent of a $2.5 million road built between Pro Energy and Oak Grove Lane.

Shaw and Mayor Dawson met with the Commissioners in July, asking if they would reconsider the City’s application. “We did not get an answer to that until today. I don’t feel like I got a real clear answer, but it’s clear enough to me that they’re not going to reconsider that,” Shaw said after the meeting. “It appeared to me there was a little bit of disagreement among the Commissioners as to how much detail they needed in those applications. We do not have to list each road. They will then pick out which roads they want to fund and what percentage.”

Going forward, Shaw concluded, “maybe we can come to terms with them. We spend about $4.5 million every year on street resurfacing inside Sedalia, for Sedalia and Pettis County residents. So we’ll see how their allocation comes out next year.”

Filling out the application for 2025 will require less detail than what Shaw provided the Commissioners with last year, he noted. “So we will provide them with less detail, so they can’t go off script and allocate it to things they know we can’t do.”

Taylor said that “We’ve got to respect every citizen in the county, not just the municipality. So when you ask me where that money’s going, I want to be able to tell you. It just seems like today there are those who think they don’t have to justify where it’s going. As long as its county money ... that’s the way I’m going to continue to do it.”

In the top photo: Eastern Commissioner Israel Baeza talks face to face with Fourth Ward Councilman Steve Bloess and Sedalia City Administrator Kelvin Shaw in a rare meeting Wednesday, Oct. 9 a the Pettis County Courthouse concerning the half-cent sales tax revenue distribution.