Public hearing next Monday
The proposed Greene County budget for fiscal year 2016-17 is similar to the current year budget, with the countywide levy rate unchanged but a 4-cent increase in the rural levy.
Two “big ticket” items are included in the budget – gravel and restoration of the large 99-year-old stained glass dome over the courthouse rotunda. Both are necessary according to supervisor Guy Richardson.
The county will spend $600,000 to replenish the county’s stockpile of gravel, which has been depleted after a “tough year for roads,” Richardson said.
The estimate for restoration of the stained glass dome is $175,000. “We have to do it. We can’t have the dome collapse onto the floor below,” he said.
There is a possibility of grant funding for a portion of the restoration, but county auditor Jane Heun and the board of supervisors found it more prudent to budget for the full cost and amend the budget later if grant applications are successful.
The total property valuation used for computing property tax dollars for the county is $622,416,323, an increase of .85 percent over the current year. The taxable valuation is based on property values as of Jan. 1, 2015. A year ago, the increase was 2.87 percent.
The valuation for ag land for property taxes is now at $455,316,696 for the FY 17 budget, an increase of about $1 million over the current year. Property values increased in Junction Township (due to the 25-turbine wind farm) and in Paton Township (due to construction at Bauer Built and John Deere), but they decreased in every other township.
The valuation for property taxes on urban properties is $167,099,664 for the FY 17 budget, an increase of about $4.3 million over the current year. Rippey was the only county town in which valuations did not increase.
The proposed budget sets the countywide levy rate at 5.68 (dollars per thousand dollars of taxable valuation), the same as the current rate. That will generate $3,535,325 in property tax revenue, compared to $3,505,635 in the current year.
The rural levy, an additional levy paid by rural property owners, is increased four cents to a rate of $3.16 for the new fiscal year. Rural taxpayers will pay a total levy rate of 8.84. The rural levy will generate $1,438,801, compared to $1,417,663 in the current year.
All revenue from property taxes is estimated at $4,974,126 for FY 17, compared to $4,923,298 for the current year.
Total revenue and transfers in is pegged at $12,841,990, an increase of $852,787. That includes an increase in revenue from the additional 10-cent tax on fuel approved by the legislature a year ago as well as the 1-cent LOSST (local option sales and service tax), Heun said.
Total expenditures and transfers out for FY 17 are estimated at $13,780,484, compared to the re-estimated $12,482,236 for the current year. The increases are mostly due to the $600,000 being spent for gravel, the $175,000 for the courthouse dome, and $50,000 for work on the Mahanay Memorial Carillon Tower. The capital project line (Line 27 on Form 630) has $500,000 for a locally funded bridge construction project under the Secondary Roads budget.
Expenditures in the various service areas total $11,918,484 and are as follows (rounded to the nearest thousand):
Public safety and legal services – Sheriff’s office and Law Enforcement Center, $1,269,000; total of $1,642,000 also includes county attorney, juvenile court services and emergency services. This amount includes $60,000 for half the cost of a new ambulance. (Half was included in the FY 16 budget).
Physical health and social services – Public health, veterans services, children and family services, etc., $454,000, a decrease of $6,000.
Mental health, intellectual disability and developmental disability – $377,000, a decrease of $88,000. This budget was determined this year by the board of Heart of Iowa Community Services (Greene, Guthrie, Audubon and Dallas counties). Cost estimates used for the FY 16 budget proved to be high in Greene County.
County environment and education – Conservation, economic development, libraries, county fair, housing programs, etc., $884,000.
Roads and transportation – $5,483,000 (Note: of the total expense, $1,785,000 is being funded by county transfers of rural, general and LOSST funds, with the remainder coming from road use taxes and other revenue sources). The total is an increase of $600,000 designated for gravel purchase.
Government services to residents – Motor vehicle services at the treasurer’s office, recorder’s office, elections administration, $374,000.
Administration – Auditor and treasurer except as noted above, board of supervisors, general services, data processing and county liability/unemployment insurance, $1,867,000. General services includes funds for work on the stained glass dome and the bell tower.
Nonprogram current – discretionary funding for organizations and grants for “brick and mortar” projects, $60,000 (paid for by an annual payment of $50,000 in lieu of property tax by Louis Dreyfus LDC and other county funds).
The estimated total fund balance at the end of the new fiscal year, June 30, 2017, is estimated at $3,265,484, a decrease of $938,494 from the estimated fund balance for June 30, 2016. The total fund balance is 27.4 percent of expenditures for FY 17. “After discussing it all, we’re comfortable with the fund balance,” Richardson said. “If valuations take a huge hit this next year, we’ll have to take a hard look at it.”
A public hearing on the proposed FY 2016-17 budget is scheduled for Monday, March 7, at 9 am in the board room at the courthouse. To see the public notice of the public hearing on the budget, click here: Budget estimate, FY 2016-17.
The county levies are only a portion of the total property tax bill. Typically, the county tax is less than 30 percent of the total tax bill for rural property owners and less than 20 percent for non-rural property owners.
