Final Public Hearing On County Budget Set For April 22

The Mills County Board Of Supervisors are in the final stages of finalizing their budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, which begins July 1.

The proposed FY26 budget includes reductions in the county’s urban and rural property tax levies from the current rates but an increase in actual property tax dollars collected.

The levy for rural areas of the county is being reduced from the current rate of 10.18798 (per $1,000 taxable valuation) to 9.98262. The urban area levy to going down from 6.24401 to 6.11598.

“The levy, itself, does go down, but your average taxpayer will probably will see an increase in their bill because of valuations,” Mills County Auditor Amber Farnan said. “It shouldn’t be a lot, but you’re always going to see fluctuation. I felt this was very conservative.”

The budget calls for a collection of $12,342,593 in property tax dollars, up from $11,924,344 for the current fiscal year. Farnan, who took on the auditor’s post after being elected in the November general election, cited an error in the county’s 2024-2025 budget as a factor in the increase.

“Part of the reason we have that change, the debt service levy that wasn’t correct last year, I had to put it to the correct amount,” Farnan said. “We didn’t ask for more than we need, we just asked for the payment for next year because we’re covering the payment for last year. That’s part of the reason it had to go up, because it should have been levied for last year. The number (property tax dollars levied) last year should have been about $12 million - $12.1 million if the levy had been what it should have been.”

Farnan said she believes county officials and department heads have been prudent during the budgeting process.

“I just think everybody went to their budget and trimmed up and got rid of some spending they didn’t need. I think we were all very mindful of trying to make the budget more manageable,” she said. “I know a lot of departments really spent a lot of time really looking at the budgets and deciding where they can make some cuts this year.”

The county’s budget includes spending increases in the areas of public safety and “government services to residents.” Law enforcement, emergency management and communications are areas included in public safety funding, while government services includes elections, recording, driver’s licensing and motor vehicle registration services, Farnan said.

Two notable decreases in the proposed county budget come in the areas of public health and roads and transportation.

The decrease in the public health budget was expected after the Mills County Board Of Health reduced MCPH staffing and services earlier this year.

Grants have traditionally been the major source of funding for MCPH services.

“For the upcoming year, we have $880,110 budgeted for Public Health and the county’s portion is around $250,000 (give or take), not to exceed $275,000,” Farnan stated. “For our current year, we have budgeted $1,209,928. This includes around $500,000 of county dollars.”
Despite the cuts, Farnan said MCPH will continue to provide essential services to county residents.

“Katelyn Murtfeld (MCPH Administrator) has done an excellent job managing the budget to ensure taxpayer dollars are used responsibly while maintaining essential services like homemaking,” she said.  “Although we received a BETS (Bureau of Emergency and Trauma Services – aka Emergency Preparedness) grant again for next year, the award amount is lower than in previous years,” she said. “Earlier this year, it was discovered that some positions previously believed to be grant-funded were not. Those positions have since been eliminated, allowing the department to operate more efficiently with a smaller staff.”

The line item for roads and transportation is being cut by about 15%.

“You’ll see a big change in roads and transportation – their budget did go down a bit. They moved a couple projects around and last year they had budgeted for a large project that didn’t end up happening,” Farnan said.  “We just didn’t budget it for it this year because we’re not sure it’s going to happen – Bunge Ave. If that does come to fruition and they get some grants, then we’ll add that back in.”

The line item for county environment and education is also being reduced by over $400,000. Farnan credits a decrease in the county’s allocation to economic development and a change to its funding source for 4-H programs for the reduction.

“Part of it, we give to 4-H and to the fairgrounds. So, we moved those expenses out of tax dollars and put those into using LOST (Local Option Sales Tax) funds instead,” Farnan said. “That took a little bit of the pressure off.”

Farnan noted the budget indicates the county is spending more than it’s taking in.

“We are spending more than we’re bringing in this year, partially, because we have a surplus in our supplemental fund so I’m buying that down. I purposely did not levy for the amount that we needed to help bring that surplus down,” she said.  “Also, Secondary Roads is purposely spending some of their surplus to do some projects.

“We are aware that we’re in the negative, but that was purposely done. Hopefully, we end up on the upside when everything is said and done.”

Mills County residents will have one more opportunity to voice opinions on the proposed FY26 budget at a public hearing Tuesday, April 22, 8:20 a.m., in the board of supervisors meeting room on the main floor at the Mills County Courthouse in Glenwood.

“Once the FY26 budget gets finalized, Farnan said she would like to meet monthly or quarterly with department heads and other county officials to have conversations on the FY27 budget.

“We have time to find places to make some good decisions,” she said.