Sales of cars, trucks, gasoline and diesel fuel in Cape Girardeau County apparently increased significantly in July, based on tax revenue generated by those sales the county received this week.

Appearing Thursday at the Cape Girardeau County Commission meeting, County Treasurer Roger Hudson said the county received more CART (County Aid Road Trust) funding this month than almost any other month in recent memory.

“They were actually up 3.99% for the month compared to last August,” Hudson said. “It was probably the highest August ever.”

CART funds are generated by the state’s motor fuel tax as well as the state’s vehicle sales tax and a portion of state license fees. The Missouri Department of Transportation, as well as cities and counties in the state, use CART funds for construction, reconstruction, maintenance and repairs of the state’s roads, bridges and highways.

The $101,337.42 added this week to the county’s CART fund was based on revenue generated mostly in July by vehicle and fuel purchases in the county as well as license fee transactions. It was the first time since last September the monthly CART fund deposit topped $100,000 and only the second time in at least the last five years that the county’s CART receipts reached the six-digit level.

“We’re still down 5.6% on the year, but at least we’re ending a three-month negative skid and starting to catch up,” Hudson said.

The county received approximately $231,921 in CART funding in May, June and July, which was almost 20% below the $287,175 the county received during the same three month period in 2019. This was due, in large measure, to the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

So far this year, the county has received $692,349.61 in CART funding compared to $733,440.51 received by this time last year.

CARES Act funding

During their two meetings this week, members of the County Commission approved nearly a half-million dollars of reimbursements to schools, libraries and the City of Jackson in connection with expenses related to COVID-19.

The reimbursements are being paid through the county’s $9.2 million Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act fund.

Reimbursements approved this week:

• $273,939.82 to St. Paul Lutheran School in Jackson
• $162,939.67 to Trinity Lutheran School in Cape Girardeau
• $27,148.67 to the City of Jackson
• $19,581.25 to Immaculate Conception School in Jackson
• $11,436.17 to Riverside Regional Library
• $3,770.21 to the Cape Girardeau Public Library
• $280 to the law firm of Ellis, Ellis, Hammons and Johnson in Springfield, Missouri, for legal services related to COVID-19

“We have now awarded approximately 22% of our CARES funding to schools in our county, which I think is a very good way to spend the money,” said 1st District Commissioner Paul Koeper.

Overall, the county has allocated more than $5.4 million of its CARES Act fund.

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