Floyd County board approves new budget with small levy drop

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

The Floyd County Board of Supervisors officially passed the new county budget for the 2020-21 fiscal year at a special meeting Monday morning.

As previously reported, the total county property tax levy will be down about 18½ cents per $1,000 of taxable valuation, but the total amount the county will collect in property taxes is increasing because of increased valuations across the county, mostly in the rural areas.

No one from the public was at a public hearing held during the board meeting regarding the proposed budget, and County Auditor Gloria Carr said no comments had been received written or verbally.

“We have had comments on the valuations,” Carr said.

“Yeah, valuations is a different issue, but nothing on the budget,” agreed Supervisor Linda Tjaden.

Supervisors Roy Schwickerath and Doug Kamm said they also had not heard from anyone regarding the budget.

“It’s just like nobody knows it’s out there,” Kamm said.

The total property valuation in Floyd County increased 6.46%, to $933.4 million, meaning that an additional $456,196 in property taxes will be collected by the county even though the levy rate is dropping slightly.

Total county property tax is budgeted at $8,236,720 in the new fiscal year that will begin July 1, up from $7,780,524 this year.

The countywide tax levy for all property owners will drop from $6.934 per $1,000 of taxable valuation in the current year, to $6.750 in the 2020-21 fiscal year.

People who live in rural areas, who don’t pay city property taxes, pay an additional rural services levy for services such as roads, law enforcement, access to libraries, etc.

The rural services levy is staying the same at $3.60 per $1,000 of taxable valuation, meaning the total county levy for rural property owners will be $10.350, down from the current $10.534 per $1,000.

People whose property valuation did not increase from last year will see their next county property tax bill go down a little. Those whose property increased in taxable value could see a tax increase, depending on the amount of the valuation increase.

Also at the board meeting Monday:

• The supervisors officially set the salaries of county elected officials for the new fiscal year beginning July 1, accepting the recommendations of the Floyd County Compensation Board that had been made in December. All elected officials received a 2.5% salary increase, except for the board of supervisors members, who each received a 2% increase.

Those new salaries are county attorney, $106,971; county auditor, $68,810; county recorder, $68,586; county treasurer, $68,586; county sheriff, $91,229; and supervisors, $40,098 each.

• Held a discussion but made no decision on supplemental medical insurance, such as AFLAC, available to county employees. The supervisors are considering which company or broker to go with to offer such insurance, although Carr said relatively few employees currently use it.