Floyd County board approves new fiscal year budget and elected officials salaries, twice

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

The Floyd County Board of Supervisors officially approved the fiscal year 2022-23 budget, property tax levy and elected officials’ salaries at the regular meeting Monday afternoon, then did it all over again at a special meeting Thursday morning to correct a math formula error.

The board held a public meeting to receive input on the county budget at its Monday meeting. Far fewer people were in attendance and spoke than during preceding meetings where the budget and county property tax rates were the topics of long and sometimes raucous discussions.

Mark Kuhn, a former Floyd County supervisor and a candidate for a seat on the board this year, read a statement he had prepared that referenced what he called “the massive cost overruns and mismanagement” of the law enforcement center and courthouse update project, and the board’s “tax and spend” policies that Floyd County taxpayers “have picked up the tab for” for the past three years.

Kuhn said the Floyd County tax rate is considerably higher than that in bordering Butler, Bremer, Cerro Gordo, Chickasaw, Howard and Worth counties, and he offered four suggestions he hoped the board would consider.

Those suggestions were using remaining money from the American Rescue Plan Act funds “for essential, already existing budget needs,” reducing the general supplemental levy rate that was part of the budget being considered, imposing an immediate hiring freeze on any new county employees, and working with other elected officials and department heads to reduce expenditures now and in the new fiscal year that begins July 1.

Supervisor Linda Tjaden said the board constantly looks at spending, examining every proposal and claim that comes across the desk, and reviewing every proposed hire to see if it’s really needed.

Supervisor Doug Kamm said even though the board was passing a budget that day, it would continue adjusting spending as needed throughout the year, just as it always does.

Supervisor Roy Schwickerath said, as one example, they had approved hiring a full-time person to split her time between the Treasurer’s Office and the Recorder’s Office, taking the place of two full-time persons.

“We are doing things,” Schwickerath said. “Do we have the magic answer? No, we don’t.”

He also said previous boards had let problems with the county jail and the courthouse go unaddressed.

“Past supervisors didn’t bite the bullet and do courthouse updates,” Schwickerath said. “We did, and I think it was the right decision.”

The county budget calls for collecting $8.815 million in property taxes in the new fiscal year beginning July 1, up 8.6% from the current year’s $8.114 million. Total expenditures are projected at $21.745 million, a 3.6% decrease from the current year’s $22.556 million.

The supervisors unanimously passed the fiscal year 2022-23 budget and tax levy rates, as well as a compensation schedule for county elected employees.

The Floyd County Compensation Board had recommended 6% salary increases for the county attorney, auditor, recorder and treasurer, 12% for the sheriff, and 5% for supervisors.

But the supervisors reduced those increases to 5% for the attorney, auditor, recorder and treasurer, 10% for the sheriff, and took no pay increase for themselves in the new fiscal year.

After the meeting, the Press questioned the figures that had been in the resolutions, noting that the amount listed in the salary resolution and the budget resolution showed only a 5% increase for the sheriff.

County Auditor Gloria Carr checked her spreadsheet and found that she had copied the 5% increase for all the offices except for the supervisors, who are getting no increase.

Carr said the sheriff’s salary amount is included correctly in the budget, but was listed wrong in the resolutions.

At the special meeting Thursday morning, Carr said she had checked with the Iowa Department of Management and was told that as long as the number is correct in the budget the state is OK with it, but after discussing the situation with that person and with the Floyd County attorney they agreed the best solution was to hold a special meeting to pass amended resolutions to clear up everything. County budgets must be certified to the state by March 31.

Last year, a copying error by Carr in the “max tax” resolution passed by the board, which the board didn’t catch, resulted in more than $1 million in property taxes that the board had planned to collect in the current fiscal year not being collected, as the amount allowed to be collected was held by the state to the same number as the previous year.

Also at the meeting Monday, the board:

• Passed a proclamation for Child Abuse Prevention Month in April and National Child Abuse Awareness Day today (Friday), April 1. Melissa Clough, Decat and Community Partnership for Protecting Children (CPPC) coordinator, was at the meeting to receive the proclamation, and also to renew the CPPC contract with Floyd County, which acts as the fiscal agent for the program.

The board also approved Clough’s group putting up a pinwheel garden for the month on the courthouse lawn representing children who suffer abuse.

• Approved a contract with Bruening Rock Products of Decorah to provide 100,000 tons of crushed rock for $1,383,900, to be applied to county secondary roads this year. Bruening was the only bidder. The per-ton price of $13.84 was an 8.1% increase over last year’s low bid, which Bruening had also submitted.

• Set a public hearing for 9:15 a.m. Monday, April 18, to approve new voting precincts in Floyd County, as drawn by the state Legislative Services Agency for the new supervisor districting.