OSAGE COUNTY — The Osage County budget is holding up well during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Treasurer Tim Neuner. “It certainly hasn’t produced a crisis for us here,” he told commissioners last week.

Neuner tabulated some target numbers to support his stance. First, he created a baseline to represent the county’s pre-COVID economy. He chose March 2019 through September 2019 to set that standard. Then, he compared the same categories from March 2020 through September 2020. That’s the time of year when Phase 1, through April, and Phase 2 of the COVID controls were imposed by the state of Missouri and Osage County Health Department. It’s what’s now known as the “shutdown” and the “opening up.”

In 2020, the General Revenue Local Sales Tax collection increased by 11.7% over 2019. The 911 Sales Tax was up 9.4%. The star of this show was the Use Tax which spiked up at 26.5%.

Neuner’s conclusion is that General Revenue and 911 Sales gained from citizens staying home. When out, they took extremely short trips for shopping, staying in the county. Those commuting to Jefferson City for work normally shop there when going to and from their jobs.

Forced instead to work from home or suffering a furlough, much of that took place in Linn. Cole County seems to be opening slower than Osage County in many business categories. That’s why these improved numbers for local sales are still holding, Neuner noted.

The Use Tax is one which benefits much from mail and online commerce. Using the internet to purchase goods has accelerated worldwide during the pandemic and Osage County has benefited well from the trend.

The one revenue stream which showed a decrease this year from last is the County Aid Road Trust (CART) program, which decreased 7.1%. These funds, however, are collected statewide and then distributed proportionately to counties. The source is fuel tax, which is assessed by the gallon. During the shutdown, citizens purchased fewer gallons of fuel. The “opening up” has yet to produce fuel sales recovery to pre-COVID levels.

The damage to the county economy is limited, though. The Road and Bridge Department counts on CART funds for material and maintenance of county roads in Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) areas, and roads leading to them. Material, equipment, and maintenance of most county roads are unaffected by this.

Neuner concluded by expressing some guarded optimism for how the year will conclude. No county departments are projecting to run in the red on their budgets. In some cases, that’s because the CARES Act will offset higher than normal expenses. That keeps those expenses off the budget.

“The way it looks now, things will be fine,” Neuner asserted.