The Carroll County Board of Supervisors held a public hearing Monday morning, the first of two dealing with property tax limits for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 budget. Auditor, Kourtney Irlbeck says the dollar amounts presented do not include mental health or debt service.
Your browser doesn’t support HTML5 audio
In the past, Irlbeck says, the county has offset the general and supplemental levies for mental health.
Your browser doesn’t support HTML5 audio
No comments were received prior to the meeting. Only one citizen asked a question following the presentation. Virginia Hagemann wanted to know if the jail expense is in this levy. Irlbeck says it is not in the dollar amounts presented on Monday. Gene Meiners also pointed out that the levy for the jail was actually earlier. That debt service was applied last year to be able to make the first payment. The increases, he says are to cover the new radio system, staffing additions and other things that went on in the county. That increase is the total max levy of 4.60516 urban and 7.9877 rural, equating to a $17 increase on a home valued at $125,000, $26 on a 40-acre tract of land, both after rollbacks, and $348 on a $1 million commercial property. Supervisors questioned Irlbeck about the reason for the extra hearing, mandated by the Iowa Legislature. She says if the county is going to go above the two percent, they should have an explanation why, but when a county is under the two percent it is confusing.
Your browser doesn’t support HTML5 audio
Supervisor Neil Bock thanked the department heads for keeping expenses low and says he is proud of the current and past supervisors who have been good stewards of residents’ tax dollars. After closing the public hearing, a resolution was presented for approval on setting the max property tax dollars presented. The motion passed with all voting in favor with one exception, Dean Schettler. The next required budget hearing was also set for Monday, March 9 at 10 a.m.