News – Friday, February 14th 2025

The Dent County Commissioners met Thursday morning at the courthouse. In the road report, both District 1 Commissioner Keith Green and District 2 Commissioner Jimmy Williams said crews were out checking roads for slick spots and possible downed limbs. Commissioner Gary Larson said he attended the Transportation Advisory Committee meeting at the Community Center at the Nelson Hart Park Thursday before returning to the MRPC building for the External Relations Committee meeting and the regular MRPC meeting. He also said he has been in touch with the elevator companies to do an evaluation of what it would cost to put an elevator on the old courthouse as well as the cost to put it in a new building. He said he wants to get back with Judge Seay on the progress of this issue to make sure the county is moving in the right direction. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said excused absentee voting for the April Municipal Election will begin on February 25th, and she will be attending a Missouri Association of Counties meeting on February 19th. She also said the courthouse would be closed Monday for Presidents’ Day. At 10:00, the commissioners, Clerk Angie Curley, Collector Shannon VanKirk and Assessor Jamie Homeyer heard a presentation from Michael Witt with Clearbasin software for the Senate Bill 190 application process and determining the Homestead Tax Credit available to those who qualify. He said the initial challenges will be the amount of applications the first year, then whether the person is qualified or not qualified, and the consistency in determining those qualifications. Also important will be the security of the information received by each applicant and the coordination of each office holder’s role. Witt said their plan is to create a taxpayer portal where people could fill out online or download the application. If done online, the program will review the information for verification to see if the taxpayer is qualified, then calculate the Homestead Tax Credit that would be sent to the collector to be put on the tax bill. If hand delivered on paper, the application would have to be reviewed to determine eligibility and the tax credit. Witt said each office holder will have their own portal for their portion of the calculation of the tax credit which will be customized for Dent County. Witt said their software is subscription based with an annual cost for updates and changes. Witt did not quote a price for the software at the meeting but would e-mail his quote to the assessor for her review in a day or two. At the last meeting, Dent County Treasurer Denita Williams reported on the sales tax received this month. The General Revenue Fund and Law Enforcement Sales Tax Fund each received $91,159.71 in February and the county is up .39% over last year. The Road and Bridge Fund received $41,830.90 in February and that is up .79% over last year. The Dent County Jail Operating and Trust funds each received $84,083.13 this February and that is up .59% from last year. The next meeting of the Dent County Commission will be Thursday, February 20th at 9:00 at the courthouse and the meeting will be open to the public.

An accident happened in Dent County Wednesday morning at 9:24 on Highway 72 about a mile south of Highway 32. According to the highway patrol report, a 2007 International Tractor-Trailer driven westbound by a 67-year-old man from St. James, traveled off the right side of the roadway and struck a tree. The man was taken by a private conveyance to Phelps Health after suffering minor injuries. He was wearing a seat restraint at the time of the accident. The International Tractor-Trailer was secured roadside.

The Healthy Dent County Fitness Center is bringing back its popular adult co-ed volleyball league for a third year. The league features two divisions: a silver (recreational) division and a gold (competitive) division. Teams must maintain a gender balance on the court, with no more men than women playing at a time, and no two men playing side by side. League games will take place on Tuesday evenings throughout March and April at the Salem Community Center @ the Armory Gymnasium, with a championship tournament set for Saturday, April 26. There will be no games during the last week of March. Each team can have a maximum of eight players, and no additional players can be added after the roster is submitted. The deadline to register is February 27, and registration forms are available at the Healthy Dent County Fitness Center. For more information, contact Susie Cahill at 573-739-1127 or susie@salemcommunitycenter.org.