County budget hearings draw big crowd

Generating more economic development and increasing the county’s retail sales tax were just two of several suggestions made by members of the public last Thursday evening to reduce property taxes at the county level. 

About 100 people, including sheriff’s office personnel and other county employees, attended a public hearing to discuss the county’s intent to exceed the revenue neutral rate for the proposed 2025 budget followed by a hearing to approve the budget. 

After the hearings, which included about an hour and 45 minutes of comments and discussion, the Jackson County Commissioners – Keith Kelly, Dan Brenner and Mark Pruett – approved the budget as presented.

For 2025, the county will be funded by 72.5 mills, which is a .05 mill increase from this year’s mill rate of 72.45 mills. To be revenue neutral, the county’s budget would have to be funded by 70.038 mills. 

The county’s assessed valuation has been increased $5,263,721 this past year, and with the new mill rate, the county is expected to generate an additional $389,285 in local taxes.

These new funds will be used to provide a four percent cost of living raise for all county employees, which was the rate of inflation at the start of the budget process this spring, commissioners said. 

Local real estate agent Wendie Edwards asked the commissioners why they needed to increase the mill levy when the county automatically collects more taxes when assessed values increase.

“The county is a business, and the cost of doing business is unfortunately going up,” Pruett said. 

Kelly said that, for example, the cost of gravel has increased from $13 a ton to more than $19 in recent years.

“As a county, we’re required to keep enough cash on hand that, if something would happen, we could pay bills over a six-month period,” Kelly said. 

Many in attendance, including Katrenia Luthi, questioned if county employees needed a four-percent raise when they received a $1 cost of living raise last January, as well as a 15 percent pay increase.

For more on this and other stories, please log in to your holtonrecorder.net account and select "Aug. 28, 2024" under "E-Editions."