Worth County could face shutdown of courthouse

GRANT CITY, Mo. -- Worth County voters' rejection of a proposed property tax during Tuesday's election could mean the shutdown of government in this small northwest Missouri community.

Come Jan. 1, the Worth County courthouse could close if another source of income isn't found. If so, it'll be the third time the county's been forced to shut down.

A 70-cent property-tax levy for the county general revenue fund failed Tuesday. The 70 cents was a renewal of a current 35-cent property-tax levy and the addition of a new 35-cent property tax levy. The current levy will run out Dec. 31. The levy funnels dollars into the county's general-revenue fund, which pays for salaries, courthouse utilities and at least part of the law enforcement costs.

State statutes mandate that certain county employees must be paid set amounts. Office help isn't mandated. Neither is the county's lone deputy. Other expenses, like phones, heat and lights for the courthouse, also could be cut.

"I think (the voters) don't think it's going to happen," Jones said of the possible closure.

The last time the courthouse closed, in the early 1980s, Jones said his predecessor claimed a desk at the firehouse and worked from there. If he needed a file, he'd head up to the courthouse, find the file and go back to the firehouse.

The tax-levy question could reappear on the November ballot. But because property tax bills are mailed out in November, it would be too late to help next year's problems even if voters approve the tax measure, Jones said.

"But I'd bet my job on it," he said. "It won't pass. Even if it did, we wouldn't get any good out of it."

Worth County isn't alone with its financial woes. It is, however, in deeper straits than any other county.

"There are counties in parts of the state that are struggling," said Dick Burke, executive director of the Missouri Association of Counties. "Some are worse than others, but none this bad.

"I blame part of it on continued pressure from the state in the form of unfunded mandates. They're asking the counties to do more and more, but the counties have their hands tied. They can't arbitrarily raise taxes. They have to convince the voters."

Burk said Worth County does have options -- one being to borrow against future income, which Worth County does every year.

"But their mechanism for collecting taxes runs out at the end of the year, losing them their ability to tax in the future," he said. "They can't borrow against that."

A second option is court intervention, coming from the governor's office or the attorney general's office, Burk added.