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MONTGOMERY
STANDARD
Wednesday, September 19, 2018 USPS 361-260
Sales tax measure up for renewal
Will be decided in Nov. 6 election
By Megan Gearhart
Since 1868
Volume 150, Issue 38
50 cents
Homecoming 2018 Montgomery County High School capped off Homecoming Week with several activities during halftime of Friday’s football game. Right, senior Riley Ludy was crowned Homecoming queen. She was escorted by senior Blain Duncan. The halftime break also featured performances from the cheerleaders and band. Pictured below are Tess Noyes, Kayley Giger and Shea Hoffmann. Pictured above are Korrin Zerr and Makenzie Woods. Tim Schmidt photos.
STAFF WRITER
During the Nov. 6 general elections this year, voters will decide whether to continue a half-cent sales tax to cover general expenses in the county’s budget. First passed in 2002, the sales tax levy sunsets every six years and has been renewed twice before. Second District Commissioner John Noltensmeyer said the tax was introduced during a time of great financial upheaval in the county after the current commission’s predecessors left the county in serious debt. But he pointed out that one of the challenges still facing the budget today- that of hiring and retaining qualified personnel - remains. “It was originally put in place to increase employees’ wages and get us to where we could offer some benefits plus cover some other general county government expenses,” Noltensmeyer said, adding that the country “went broke” back in 2002, even closing its doors on Fridays for a while. Back then, the average starting wage for a county worker was $7 an hour. Today it’s $13 an hour. Noltensmeyer and First District Commissioner Rich Daniels said that without the approximately $500,000 a year that the sales tax now brings in, the county would struggle to hire quality employees. “It’s not a great wage,” Daniels said, “but it’s at least made us competitive with local businesses.” He added that emergency call workers were particularly difficult to retain owing to the higher wages they can find in larger neighboring cities. “Our 911 dispatchers were making $7-8 an hour to work 24/7, 365 days a year,” he said. Noltensmeyer added, “People would have been able to go to most fast food establishments and make more money.” In 2003, approximately $48,000 of the sales tax collected was budgeted to equalize the pay rates throughout all departments; another $119,000 was budgeted for employee health coverage, and $19,000 went to hiring a second clerk in the prosecuting attorney’s office. The bulk of the remaining funds were budgeted for debt services ($100,000). Presiding Commissioner Ryan Poston said that the biggest strain on the county’s budget right now is the expense of boarding state prisoners without any reimbursement from the state. “We keep having to draw out of our reserve fund right now because the state prison per diem owes us about $128,000,” he said. The ballot question would most likely reappear in April if defeated in the November election. The commission said that personnel cuts were possible as a worst-case scenario - if nothing changes with the state prison reimbursements and voters reject the measure. “We’ve managed to put a budget together for 18 years,” he said. “I don’t see any reason why we won’t be able to do it again next year, but I don’t think it’s gonna happen without some pain.”
Federal funds awarded to drug court program By Tim Schmidt PUBLISHER
Nearly $400,000 in federal funds will give drug court programs in the 12th Judicial Circuit a boost. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded a grant of $392,487 that will go toward supporting the 12th Circuit Treatment Court serving Montgomery, Audrain and Warren counties, and the 45th Circuit encompassing Lincoln and Pike counties. A total of $1 million was awarded to drug court programs across the state. The courts focus on substance abuse rehabilitation instead of putting non-violent offenders in jail. Through the grant, the 12th Judicial Circuit will partner with Preferred Family Healthcare, Inc. to provide expanded behavioral health services and other support services to court participants and families residing in the three counties. Participants will
ty service. They must submit to drug tests when requested. Since 2011, Montgomery County has had 37 participants enter the treatment court program. Of those, 20 have graduated. “It is important that we in the criminal justice system continue to look for other resources and funding to assist in providing opportunities for success in combatting the drug problems that are within our respective communities,” Becker-Markovich said. “Incarceration clearly is not the answer.” She noted that the drug court program continues to see success stories and reduce recidivism. “Through our continued collaboration of the judiciary, law enforcement, department of corrections, treatment personnel, the self-help community and of course the participants, we continue to show the federal government that their investment in the 12th Circuit is in fact investing in families and is a community building a community,” Becker-Markovich said.
Consolidated Electric sends crews to help with outages
Whelen Eye catches rubber ducks during races held at the Jonesburg Lions Club Sept. 15. The event also included a barbecue cookoff, sand volleyball tournament and a lawnmower pull. Tim Schmidt photo.
Inside this edition Courthouse News............ 3 Obituaries........................... 4 Sports............................... 7-8
have access to services that were previously not available and affected recovery, such as housing, money management and family counseling. “Addiction and mental health disorders impact not only the individual but their families and those that they interact with on a continual basis,” said Christie Becker-Markovich, treatment court administrator for the 12th Judicial Circuit. “This funding was desperately needed to bring the specialized services that have continually been missing in our communities. We hope the services that we will now be able to offer to overcome the disease of addiction that is taking too many people, will assist not only our participants, but the family and community as a whole.” Drug court participants must follow strict guidelines through the minimum 18-month program, including weekly court and counseling sessions, contacting officials every morning, obeying a nightly curfew and performing a minimum of 40 hours of communi-
Legals............................... 8-9 Classifieds.................. 10-11 Real Estate........................11
MONTGOMERY
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Lineworkers from Consolidated Electric Cooperative were part of a group from Missouri who helped restore power in the aftermath of Tropical Store Florence. The crew members from the Mexico-based cooperative, which covers Montgomery County, were assisting local crews with Pee Dee Electric Cooperative in Darlington, S.C. Crews were able to reduce the number of members out of power from 4,794 Sunday morning to 1,077 in the evening. Their work was expected to continue Monday. They are expected to return home soon after. Missouri cooperatives also sent lineworkers to assist with restoration efforts in Kingstree, S.C. Those crews were released Sunday. Missouri’s crews have been met with unwavering hospitality. While in Tennessee on the way to South Carolina, lineworkers from Platte-Clay Electric Cooperative, Kearney, reported having their breakfast paid for by others in the restaurant. Other travelers along the highways spotted co-op trucks heading towards then-Hurricane Florence and passed along their gratitude to the cooperative offices back in Missouri. Missouri’s restoration efforts in South Carolina are spearheaded by the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives. The Jefferson City-based association represents all 47 of Missouri’s electric cooperatives.
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