BLOOMFIELD — Stoddard County taxpayers will have the option of paying their personal property and real estate taxes in installments beginning in 2022.
The Stoddard County Commission voted 3-0 during Monday’s meeting to allow County Collector Joshua Speakman to enter into an agreement with taxpayers who choose to make prepaid estimated monthly installments on the upcoming year’s taxes.
The program is not mandatory.
“It is just an option to assist in budget billing for those taxpayers who are interested in spreading their tax liability throughout the year,” Speakman said in a press release.
Monthly payments will be withdrawn from the customer’s bank account and deposited into a non-interest bearing account.
For more information, go to stoddardcocollector.com or call the collector’s office at 573-568-3327.
Opioid settlement
The commissioners voted 3-0 Monday for the county to join the $26 billion global opioid settlement with drug distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson and drugmaker Johnson & Johnson.
About $500 million of the settlement will go to Missouri.
The funds will go directly toward funding addiction treatment, recovery and intervention programs. The suits against the four companies were brought to force the pharmaceutical industry to help pay to fix a nationwide opioid addiction and overdose crisis.
The state has agreed on the settlement, and the second part of the settlement involves all of the political subdivisions, including counties.
Eighty-five percent of the $500 million will be paid directly to the state, and 15% will be distributed to the settling subdivisions on a pro rata basis based on their population.
If Stoddard County had decided not to sign the settlement, it would have received no funds but would still be eligible for grant programs through the state money.
The county expects to receive between $135,000 and $247,000 over an 18-year timespan from the distributors settlement and between $25,000 and $57,000 over a nine-year period from the manufacturer settlement.
These dollar amounts could vary based on the number of counties who agree to the settlement. If fewer counties sign the agreement, the counties who did sign it would receive more money.
If the county had decided not to sign the agreement, it would have another option of obtaining funds. The county could have filed an independent cause of action against all four entities but would be responsible for paying all legal fees.
“You would be gambling that if you did that, that you would ultimately be successful in all four of those lawsuits and would be able to recover more money than what’s being offered as part of this settlement,” Jay Atkins, of the attorney general’s office, said during an Oct. 25 conference call with the commissioners. “You would have to start the litigation process fresh. The one we’re on right now, it’s been going on for about five years, six years to get to the point that we’re at now.”
ARPA funds
The commissioners announced the county has paid the Stoddard County Ambulance District $126,940.24 in American Rescue Plan Act funds.
Presiding Commissioner Danny Talkington said the payment received by SCAD is the only one distributed from the county’s $5,637,766 in ARPA funds.
In other news
• The commissioners voted 3-0 to adjust payroll procedures for county employees to maintain labor law compliance.
• The commissioners approved a contract to pay Public Water Supply District No. 6 $136,050 in ARPA funds for repair and the painting of the district’s water tower.
• During the Nov. 22 meeting, the commissioners approved a contract to pay Public Water Supply District No. 3 $202,439 in ARPA funds to repaint the inside and outside of the district’s water tower.
• The commissioners voted 3-0 to re-appoint LaVeda Banken, Trevor Pulley and Mike Reinbott to the Stoddard County 911 Board. Their new three-year terms begin Jan. 1, 2022.