Who Pays for County Roads in Clinton County - and Who Benefits?
When Clinton County residents pay their property tax bills each year, most are aware that a portion funds schools, the sheriff’s office, and county operations. Fewer are aware of how the county’s Road and Bridge levy works — specifically, which roads it pays for and which residents bear the most cost.
A review of county parcel data, audited financial statements, state statutes, and public records requests reveals a structural funding arrangement that treats municipal and rural residents differently — by design, under Missouri law.
Municipal Residents Are the County’s Largest Tax Base
According to a 2025 parcel-level tax revenue analysis of Clinton County, municipal residential properties — homes located inside city limits — are the single largest source of property tax revenue in the county, generating $10.7 million annually across 6,174 parcels. Small-tract residential properties in rural areas contribute an additional $5.56 million across 1,876 parcels. Together, residential taxpayers — urban and rural — account for the majority of the county’s property tax base, ahead of agricultural and commercial properties.
That revenue funds a wide range of county services. Among them is the Special Road and Bridge Fund, which according to audited financial statements collected $1,164,771 in property taxes in 2021 — making it one of the larger county funds outside of general revenue.
How Missouri Law Directs Road and Bridge Funds
Under Missouri Revised Statutes §137.555, the Road and Bridge levy is collected county-wide — from every parcel, including those inside city limits. However, the county road system that those funds maintain is legally defined to exclude streets within incorporated municipalities. City streets are the financial responsibility of each city, not the county.
The same statute does permit a county commission to share road fund revenue with cities — but only on a voluntary basis and only through a written intergovernmental contract. This is not a requirement; it is a discretionary option available to the commission.
A separate provision, RSMo §137.556, requires first- and second-class counties to return a portion of road tax revenue collected within city limits back to those municipalities. Clinton County, classified as a third-class county, is not subject to that requirement.
The Practical Effect: A Two-Layer System
The result of this structure is that residents living inside Clinton County’s municipalities — Cameron, Plattsburg, Lathrop, Gower, Holt, Trimble, and others — contribute to the county Road and Bridge levy through their property taxes, but the roads maintained by that fund are located outside their city limits. Their own streets are maintained separately, funded by each city’s own revenues and levies.
In practical terms, a municipal resident pays two layers of road-related taxation:
• The county Road and Bridge property tax levy, which funds maintenance of rural county roads outside city limits.
• City taxes and levies, which fund maintenance of the streets they actually use within city limits.
Rural residents outside city limits pay the county levy but are not subject to a separate city road tax, as their streets and roads are maintained directly by the county system that levy funds.
Based on municipal residential properties representing approximately 41 percent of the county’s total assessed valuation, municipal residents contribute an estimated $475,000 to $500,000 annually to the Road and Bridge fund. In 2021, that fund spent $798,224 on materials and supplies — gravel, asphalt, and equipment — all directed toward the county road system outside city limits.
No Intergovernmental Agreements Found
A review of Clinton County’s audited financial statements shows no transfers or payments from the Road and Bridge fund to any municipality for road purposes. No written intergovernmental revenue-sharing contract between the county and any city appears in any audit record.
A Missouri Sunshine Law public records request was also submitted in June 2026 to MoDOT’s Northwest District, asking for any agreements under which Clinton County performed contract road work on state highways — an arrangement that can sometimes generate revenue flowing back to a county’s road operation. MoDOT’s Senior Paralegal responded on June 16, 2026 (Reference #R011316-061126): “Staff advise we have no record of any agreements, contracts, MOU’s or work orders between MoDOT and Clinton County under which Clinton County performed any work on our highway system within the last 3 years.”
Budget Transparency
Missouri law requires third-class counties to adopt an annual budget. However, Clinton County does not publish its adopted budget — line-item or summary — on its official website or through any publicly accessible online portal, according to a review by the Clinton County Coalition of Concerned Citizens. The most recent detailed Road and Bridge fund figures available to the public come from the State Auditor’s financial audit covering 2020 and 2021, released in December 2023.
Context: Audit History
Clinton County’s financial management has drawn scrutiny from the Missouri State Auditor’s Office on multiple occasions. A 2019 audit of the Plattsburg Special Road District — a separate entity within the county — found that a bookkeeper had misappropriated at least $286,615 over a seven-year period. The employee later pled guilty in federal court.
A 2022 audit of the Clinton County Commission and County Clerk, conducted following whistleblower complaints, resulted in an overall rating of “poor” — the lowest possible — citing late payroll tax filings, IRS penalties and interest totaling $73,912, and outstanding IRS debt of $142,863. An earlier county audit in 2019 also received a “poor” rating, citing a weak General Revenue Fund balance and inadequate financial controls.
As of November 2025, the Missouri State Auditor’s Office has begun a new routine performance audit of Clinton County, with results expected within 9 to 12 months.
Summary
The funding structure described here is not unique to Clinton County — it reflects how Missouri state law governs road taxation in third-class counties. Municipal residents contribute to a county road levy that, by law and by the county’s own practice, does not fund their streets. Missouri law does provide the commission with a voluntary mechanism to address this imbalance through intergovernmental agreements, though no such agreements are currently in place in Clinton County.
Understanding this structure is relevant for residents evaluating how county tax revenue is allocated, what options exist under state law, and what questions to bring to their county commissioners.
Sources: 2025 Clinton County Tax Revenue Heat Map (parcel-level GIS analysis); Missouri State Auditor’s Office, Clinton County Financial Statements, Report No. 2023-087; RSMo §137.555 and §137.556; Missouri State Auditor’s Office audit ratings, 2019 and 2022; MoDOT Northwest District, Sunshine Law Response, Reference #R011316-061126, June 16, 2026; Clinton County Coalition of Concerned Citizens, budget transparency review.
The South (Clinton) County Squawker
June 18, 2026
Author: Charles Ford
Email: cf385609@gmail.com
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