JASPER COUNTY, MISSOURI -
Thanks to larger than expected sales and property tax collections, Jasper County, Missouri's 43.5 million dollar budget is a million dollars larger than originally expected. That means additional funding for at least two things, in which Jasper residents take a lot of pride.
"If you drive the roads of Jasper County, you're going to find that 90-95% of them are paved, and striped," said Jasper County Auditor Richard Webster, Jr.
And it's not just the highway department. The Jasper County Sheriff's Department will see a $200,000 increase to their annual budget.
"We invest probably half the general revenue budget in law enforcement, and our sheriff does a great job of managing that money," said Webster, Jr.
Contributions will also be made to the Jasper County Reserve Fund, also known as the county's rainy day fund. Healthy sales taxes may have put Jasper County in a good spot for 2018, but county officials know they aren't a given.
"The main challenge we have is sales tax maintaining because of the change in the retail environment. There are a lot of internet sales," said Webster, Jr.
What is a given are constant drains on the budget, both unexpected, and expected. This year comes with political costs for Jasper.
"We'll have a primary and a general election, and the county has to pay for that. And that has gotten more and more expensive and there's like $325,000 budgeted here for at least 2 elections that we have to pay for," said Webster, Jr.
