County Supervisors Slashing Funding For Economic Development

Mills County is making a major cut in tax dollar support to the Mills County Economic Development Foundation (MCEDF) in its proposed budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year.

County funding for economic development is being reduced by the board of supervisors from around $200,000 to $10,000, Mills County Auditor Amber Farnan said last week.

“They aren’t going to give as much to economic development as they have in the past,” she said.

Since 2016, following the MCEDF’s separation from the Glenwood Area Chamber Of Commerce (now the Mills County Chamber Of Commerce), Mills County has been allocating tax dollars to economic development to cover the salary of the foundation’s executive director and some other expenses. The allocation has resulted in some public scrutiny in recent years. The three county supervisors addressed the issue in an interview with The Opinion-Tribune in January, noting the importance of having an economic development entity in place, but also acknowledging concerns about public funding.

“It’s a problem,” county supervisor Richard Crouch said. “When you mention economic development, what do you spend it on? Do you get your bang for the buck?

“We have to do something. If we set still and do nothing and something wants to come in (to Mills County) and there’s nobody there to answer questions or help you out, that’s a problem.”

Supervisor Jack Sayers said economic development takes time to “snowball” but he understands concerns about the use of public tax dollars being given to the foundation.

“Have we spent too much money in the past? That could be the case,” Sayers said. “But, you can’t put money into something and expect two or three years down the line that you’re going to have something. It takes years to accomplish something anywhere.”

Supervisor Lonnie Mayberry, chair of the county board of supervisors, said a lack of industry in Mills County puts a heavy burden on residential property owners and farmers, but he also understands the challenges the economic development foundation faces.

The 2019 Missouri River flood was a major blow to economic development near the Interstate 29-Highway 34 interchange, he noted.

“We had a development agreement ready to sign the day the levee broke,” Mayberry said. “We were close – we had a certified site out there in the John Deere / AgriVision area.”

Mayberry added that since the 2019 flood, certification issues with the levee along the Missouri River have slowed economic development progress in the county.

MCEDF President Jon Lorson said the foundation was aware the county intended to cut funding for economic development in the upcoming budget.

“They let us know there was going to be some cuts, we just didn’t know how much it was going to be,” he said. “We’re kind of reevaluating our budget right now to see what we need to do to keep things moving forward on the economic development side.

“We’re just trying to make adjustments to next year’s budget so that we can keep on doing what we need to do.”

Lorson said the foundation board is committed to pursuing economic development in Mills County, despite the cut in funding from the county.

“All the folks on the board, we’re just volunteering,” he noted. “We’ve got a lot of good members on the board who can help things moving forward.”