The Marion County Board of Commissioners met on Monday, Aug. 12, and held a budget hearing.
Chairman Dave Mueller opened up the hearing by saying that the budget process had given the board a very healthy, robust discussion.
“We certainly appreciate [Marion County Administrator] Tina Spencer’s work and getting us information to get to this point and Ashley [Herpich, Marion County Clerk] also. It’s been a good team effort. It was a good budget for Marion County,” said Mueller.
Commissioner Jonah Gehring asked for clarification on the revenue neutral rate.
“So some values went up, some values went down. I mean, for me, it was a wash, but wondering is that all just evaluations based on appraiser’s office or how’s that,” asked Gehring.
“You mean property evaluations? Yes. That would be based on the appraisals that they do in the appraiser’s office,” said Spencer.
“So just trying to figure out why revenue neutral didn’t mean revenue neutral,” said Gehring.
“It means revenue neutral. The county will not be receiving any more tax dollars than we did last year. So the county as an organization is revenue neutral. That means we are not gonna be receiving additional revenue from taxes. So really, depending on your property valuation, our levy rate for the county is going down. So even if people’s value goes up, their taxes could stay level or go down, depending, because we’re lowering our rate. But it also depends on what every other entity that they are in does. Some people’s property values would go up and some would not.”
The board voted to approve and adopt the budget.
In other business, the board:
•held a public hearing and approved the road/bridge closure for the section of Old Mill between 260th and 270th in Clark Township
• learned of road and bridge updates, including the rebuild on 240th is continuing, with work being done between Nighthawk and Old Mill; the overlay is complete on 290th, and shoulder work is the next step; asphalt projects are likely to begin this week; 42 miles of blade patching have been completed; 39 miles of chip sealing are planned and will start this week; and the bridge is being repaired on 310th and Mustang
•met in executive session to discuss potential litigation. No action was taken.
•received gifts and heard updates from Marion County 4-H clubs
•discussed the updated draft resolution opposing the federal government’s 30×30 land preservation goal. The board again gave County Counselor Brad Jantz feedback on reworking the resolution to bring back for review. They plan to eventually hold a town hall meeting for public feedback once they are done with the resolution.
