The Worth County Gravel Tax will bring in $163,081.40 in 2010 taxes, minus around $5,000 of taxes in arrears. Cost to haul gravel is $14.95 a ton this year; when the Special Rock program was started, the cost was $14.15 a ton. There are 10,754.20 tons of rock and around 214.5 miles of gravel surfaced roads in the county, meaning that the county delivers 60 tons of gravel per mile for eligible roads.
The Special Rock fund has been in the hole around $10,000 the last two years, which means that the county has had to transfer money out of the CART Fund to make up the shortfall. There have been some roads added to the Special Rock program this year since they have developed sufficient gravel base to get rock. The Special Rock program is not intended for all roads, but just for those with gravel base.
Clerk Roberta Owens said that passage of the Special Gravel Tax was necessary because 33% of all landowners at the time it passed in 2009 were out of county landowners who did not put up CART funds for county roads. She said she knew of two other times that it was put on the ballot and failed, but it passed by a 2-1 margin in the county in 2009 and was passed by both rural and town residents.
Missouri Revised Statute 231.444 gave Worth County and five other counties specifically the authority to pass the Special Rock fund. The rate is not to exceed one dollar on each acre of real property in the county classified as agricultural and horticultural property pursuant to section 137.016. The section does not provide for an exception for landlocked lands. All moneys in the Special Rock fund are to be appropriated for the sole purpose of purchasing of road rock to be placed on county roads within the boundaries of the county. The law says that the county shall put this measure before all the qualified voters in the county, not just people who use the roads in question.
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