VIENNA — The Maries County commissioners Sept. 3 approved 3-0 purchasing two 1,000-gallon propane tanks, at the cost of $5,201.90 per tank or $10,403.80 total, to replace the current three-tank …
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VIENNA — The Maries County commissioners Sept. 3 approved 3-0 purchasing two 1,000-gallon propane tanks, at the cost of $5,201.90 per tank or $10,403.80 total, to replace the current three-tank setup.
Commissioners agreed on Aug. 24 to move forward with MFA Oil’s bid of $1.399 per gallon, but after inspecting the county’s three tanks, it was determined they needed replacing.
Vic Stratman, presiding commissioner, called the company, which approved paying for the tanks after Jan. 1, when the new budget year begins.
Because these new tanks will alert MFA when the tank is at 40 percent capacity, the commissioners chose to only purchase two tanks instead of three.
Stratman said that while the county could rent the tanks, they would have to rely on that company for propane instead of asking for the lowest bidder.
Ferrellgas was the second lowest bid at $1.529 per gallon. Rodney Southard, Eastern District commissioner, said that the 13-cent difference would save the county more than $1,000 over 8,000 gallons.
“They could bid $2 a gallon if they wanted, and we’d have to buy it if we rented the tanks,” said Patrick Kleffner, Western District commissioner.
Tax rates
The commissioners set the 2026 property tax rates in a public hearing as part of the regular meeting.
These are the 2026 rates:
• General revenue: 0.3462 percent (34.62 cents per $100 of assessed valuation)
• Road District 1: 0.2707 percent
• Road District 2: 0.2376 percent
These were the 2025 rates, according to the Missouri State Auditor’s website:
• General Revenue: 0.3614 percent
• Road District 1: 0.2707 percent
• Road District 2: 0.2376 percent
New sheriff’s office vehicle
Sheriff Mark Morgan also shared with the commission that his office will be using the $29,069.76 in Blue Shield Grant money from the state to purchase a 2023 Ford Explorer with about 10,000 miles from a dealership.
Morgan said that the vehicle is pursuit rated and has a prisoner partition but that the county would need to install lights, radios, a radar and decal. He also said that the county’s hybrid car crashed and that he would use $15,000 in insurance money to pay for equipping the new vehicle.
