Voters in largest county again reject tax increase

HOUSTON, Mo. -- In Missouri's most sprawling county, the sheriff's department pays its deputies an average of $8.35 an hour and cannot afford to provide around-the-clock service.

And when the department is open for business, Texas County Sheriff Dean Belshe says he can only afford to assign one deputy at a time to patrol the 1,600 miles of paved and gravel roads that meander through the south-central Missouri county.

If there is a report of a felony, officers try to respond the same day. If there's a homicide, a call for help goes out to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

"We send all these kids out to do this dangerous work for the lowest pay," Belshe said of his deputies. "It's not right."

But a majority of Texas County voters don't want to spend more for the sheriff's operations. In the past year, voters have rejected three proposed increases in the county sales tax, even though the latest proposal would have benefited law enforcement exclusively.

"I think I have enough taxes to pay now and if you're on a fixed income, it's hard to get by," said Opal Myres, a Roby resident.

Inching into the red

By a vote of 3,041 to 2,724, voters last week defeated a proposed one-half of 1 percent sales-tax increase that would have added $685,000 a year to the sheriff's department's annual budget of $270,000.

"People want law enforcement, but they don't want to pay for it," Belshe said.

Officials say the county's finances have been inching from black to red in seven of the past 11 years as sales tax receipts have remained flat and county spending has increased. Earlier this year, commissioners were worried the county's reserve fund could be empty by this time next year.

One deputy's position and seven courthouse jobs were cut after a sales tax increase was defeated in November, easing the pressure somewhat.

"We're still not out of the woods," said County Commissioner Linda Garrett. "But things are looking a little better and we'll do everything we can to stay in the black."

At Houston's Downtown Barber Shop, barber Steve Drake said residents opposed the first two tax proposals almost unanimously. "This time it was pretty much split," Drake said. "The people are just getting tired of paying taxes."

The county cannot seek another law-enforcement sales tax for at least a year, and Garrett said she doesn't think the county commission has plans to ask the voters again for more money.