VIENNA — The Maries County Emergency Services Board is considering delaying transfer of employees from the county until August or September while they figure out the logistics of transitioning.

Voters approved a 1 percent sales tax in November 2025 to make the board a separate entity from the county. Because the Department of Revenue (DOR) failed to start collecting the tax on April 1, the board will only receive part of the originally anticipated revenue. Collection is set to start May 1, but the county only funded the board through June.

Because some businesses pay sales tax monthly while others pay it quarterly, Bonnie Prigge, the board president, only expects about a month’s worth of sales tax for the first quarter.

For sales tax collected in May, businesses paying the DOR monthly have a June due date. The DOR will process the payment in July and distribute the initial revenue in August.  For businesses reporting quarterly, the DOR will not distribute revenue until September. County Clerk Rhonda Rodgers said that the county will have to fund the MCESB during that time.

“That’s a little concerning how our money is going to come in,” Prigge told the county commissioners during their April 20 meeting.

During the board’s April 17 meeting, Cindy Butler shared how bulk services keep individual costs down. For example, when a family pays for phone service, each individual line is discounted compared to when an individual pays for a phone. Because the board only has 10 employees, she was concerned about the price of services being more expensive.

With July 1 only two months after their next meeting, Prigge also expressed concern about benefits like health insurance during the transition. By keeping the staff as employees of the county, the MCESB could reimburse the cost of salaries and benefits and keep the county rate while income is uncertain due to the delay. Once benefits packages are secured, then the MCESB staff would become separate employees.

County commissioners would have to agree to temporarily keep employees for that to work. Presiding Commissioner Vic Stratman, who attended the meeting, was open to the idea.

“I’m sure that we would do that. We’re committed to whatever it takes to get this up and working good and efficiently,” he said.

The next board meeting will be on May 15 at the county courthouse so that the county commissioners can be present and have immediate access to necessary documents during the discussions.