2016 Taney County Citizen's Report

How the County Operates The County Makeup
Table of Contents
The County of Taney is organized and The county is made up of several different Who we are 1
operates under the first class county statutes departments. The general county depart-
of Missouri. The county commissioners and ments include administrative departments, How Have we Progressed? 2
other elected officials who serve in a election authorities, sheriff and law en-
leadership capacity, provide policy direction. forcement, planning and zoning, and tax Our Finances 3
Collectively, the elected officials are collection. There is a separate department
responsible for all administrative aspects of for roads and bridges, sewer, and transfer What’s Next? 4
the government, with most of the station. The county also provides space
administrative and operational functions for the state judicial facilities.
falling under the purview of the county com- Mission
mission. There are several entities that are closely
tied to the county either by statute or by Provide core public services which
Elected officials include the presiding com- funding. The county works with the Taney are accessible, transparent, and
missioner, eastern and western commission- County Regional Sewer District, Taney
er, auditor, assessor, clerk, collector, coroner, County Health department, Senior Citizen
responsive to the needs of the
prosecuting attorney, public administrator, Board, Developmentally Disabled Board, public.
sheriff, recorder of deeds, and treasurer. all Taney county schools and cities, as well
There are also several positions appointed by as the Taney County Ambulance District.
the commission that perform administrative These entities also supply services to the Vision
duties. A more comprehensive list can be citizens of Taney county. Even though
they are not a part of the Taney County
Be a collaborative and innovative
found on the county website.
government they are closely tied because organization that is future focused
There are also judges and a circuit clerk that of the services provided or because of the and committed to excellence.
are elected at the county level, but are actual- way they are funded.
ly state employees. These do have important
roles in the services that the county provides.

Selected Demographics Our County Website

2000 2010 2017
You can find more infor-
mation as well as record-
Population 39703 51675 NA
ed minutes at
Per Capita Income NA $35,102 NA www.taneycounty.org.
Number of county employees 198 293 272 There is more contact in-
formation there if you
% of total population employed by county 00.50% 00.57% 00.49%
based on most recent census
have other questions. We
Average county employee wage using $21470.88 $29624.99 $33884.95
are here to serve you the
budgeted amounts in 2017 citizens. 1
 How We Have Progressed
Fiscal year 2016
From the beginning Come Visit us today
According to the White River Valley Histori- The Taney county administration build-
cal Society: Taney County was proposed in ing has been upgraded many times. This
1835; and established 6 Jan 1837 by the Mis- is a recent photograph. This building
souri State Legislature. Named for Roger B. houses the Assessor, Collector, Com-
Taney, a "distinguished citizen of Mary- mission, Auditor, Clerk, Recorder of
land". After several interim locations, includ- Deeds, Treasurer and other offices for
ing the farms of Jesse Jennings (Cedar Point) the county. In 2017 these offices pro-
and Joseph Price (mouth of Bull Creek), the cessed payroll and accts payable for all
county seat and courthouse were established county departments, recorded 44,000+
near the mouth of Swan Creek in the new documents, held elections, assessed and
town of Forsyth in 1845. collected for over 47,000 real estate par-
cels, as well as other administration du-
Taney County moved with the town of For- ties.
syth and is now on the area above Swan
Creek. The county operated under 3rd class
county statutes until 2000. At that time the
county growth had moved the county to a size
that was commensurate with the 1st class
counties. It has operated under those statutes
since that time.

2016 Accomplishments
 All departments operated as statute re-
quired during 2016.
 The county operated within the budget
set in 2016
 Invested the time and money to keep
county roads and bridges at or above
previous levels.
 Provided law enforcement as well as
detention facilities for inmates convicted
or awaiting trial in Taney county in order
to provide a safer society.
 Cooperated with schools, cities, and oth-
er entities to assess and collect property
taxes. The above building houses the sheriff, prosecuting attorney, public administrator,
juvenile and courts. The jail is also in this facility. We have 4 court rooms in addi-
 Provided for recording legal documents tion to offices for all of these departments. The two pods of the jail facility allow us
for real estate transactions and other im- to house prisoner total levels above 200. Some of these are prisoners housed for
portant documents on a very timely ba- other entities at a cost to those entities. This is also where bad checks are pro-
sis. cessed, traffic violations are dealt with, as well as assaults, felonies, and all other
prosecuting processes. We also house the juvenile department here which handles
 Recorded and accounted for the many juvenile cases. The public administrator is housed in this building where 100 plus
transactions necessary to carry on the wards have their affairs administered.
county business.
The sheriff’s office also houses all administration of law enforcement, dispatch,
 Continued its record for strong fiscal and booking in this building.
stewardship — maintaining its triple A This facility came at great cost to the people of Taney county so we give every ef-
bond ratings fort to put it to the best and most efficient use. It has much of the state of the art
 Held 4 elections including the presiden-
equipment in the jail and in the judicial areas. If you haven’t been in your judicial
facility you should take the time to visit.
tial election efficiently and accurately
We also have buildings for road and bridge maintenance, transfer station, and the

2
 Our Finances
Revenues and Expenses

What are the costs to serve the citizens and how are those costs paid?
There are three major funds in the county. The road and bridge fund and the sewer fund are special purpose funds while the
general county fund exists to account for the resources used to pay for other services traditionally associated with local govern-
ment. Included are police, parks and recreation, planning and economic development, general administration of the County and
any other activity for which a special fund has not been created. There are several other smaller funds that make up a small
proportion of the county funds and are used by different departments specifically for purposes in those departments. All of
these funds are subject to state statutes and to an annual audit which is performed by a professional auditing firm. Below is a
summary of the General County Funds revenues and expenditure in 2016.
General County Revenue by Source
Column1 % of total amount
Sales tax
69.0% $7,900,334.00
Sales tax 69.0% Charges and Fees
Charges and Fees 21.0% 21.0% $2,400,425.00
Transfers for services 1.1% Transfers for services 1.1% $122,795.00
Licenses and Permits 0.8% Licenses and Permits 0.8% $87,214.00
Collectors commissions 6.2%
Collectors commissions 6.2% $707,777.00
Other sources 2.1%
Other sources 2.1% $238,964.00
Total general revenues
$11,457,509.00

Expenditures by Service Area

5000000 administra on 2,372,966.62 19.7%
4000000 economic dev 865,000.00 7.2%
3000000
2000000 public safety 4,216,586.19 34.9%
1000000 judicial 1,029,593.01 8.5%
0
benefits 2,551,695.84 21.1%
bldg and infrastucture 1,035,519.51 8.6%
other 600,245.95 5.0%
total 12,071,361.17

These charts include only the General Revenue for the county. The road and bridge funds, sewer funds,
and special use funds are not included.

Independent Audit
Independent audits of the County’s finances were conducted, resulting in clean opinions. Complete
financial information can be found at www.taneycounty.org
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 What’s Next
What are goals of the county

We want to be as efficient as possible with all of the
resources of the county. We know that the efficiency
of many things are driven by the availability of tech-
nology, materials, as well as the work environment
provided to those performing the tasks at hand. As a
county we want to provide the citizens the best ser-
vices at the least cost. We will strive to continue to
grow with and for the people of Taney county. The
pictures to the left shows our recorders office.

The county administration recognizes the im-
portance of excellent employees. We want to
maintain a work environment that allows the
county to compete for the best workers in all
fields. We think the work environment is a
very important aspect of employee retention
and efficiency. Right is assessors office. The county has a responsibility to encourage growth
and productivity of the entire county. There are
many things that would encourage that, but we are
aware that infrastructure is one of the most im-
portant. The general county must provide safety,
roads, sewer, clean water, and places to enjoy . The
county uses the general fund and special use funds
to provide these to the citizens. The county also en-
courages collaboration with all the other entities in
the county to improve these things.

We want to hear from you.
Do you like this report?
Would you like to see other information?
Please let us know by contacting rickf@co.taney.mo.us.
Above a deputy drives by on his way to the office. Our old build- For more information on our services, visit our website at
ing on the left and the new judicial facility on the right. www.taneycounty.org

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