Commission approves budgets for fire, cemetery and sewer districts

The 2026 budget for the Linn County Rural Fire Department was approved by the Linn County Commission on Monday, Sept. 15. The budget for $1.13 million was below the revenue neutral rate and was easily approved. (Journal file photo)

By Charlene Sims

MOUND CITY – In less than 15 minutes, Linn County Commissioners Alison Hamilton and Jason Hightower held four revenue neutral hearings and approved budgets on Monday, Sept. 15. The revenue neutral hearings were held because because all entities had filed a notice that they might exceed revenue neutral, however, none of them did.

In a meeting separate from the regular commission meeting on Monday, the budgets of Linn County Cemetery districts Nos.1 and 4, the Linn County Sewer District No.1 and the Linn County Rural Fire District No.1 budget. No one spoke at the public comment of any of the hearings.

Previous to the vote on the rural fire district, County Clerk Danielle Souza told the commissioners that if they wished to speak to Linn County Fire Chief Randy Hegwald that he was in the room and she submitted the fire district budget, which was below revenue neutral for their review. They approved the budget without additional consultation.

The budgets approved were:

• Linn County Cemetery District No. 1 - This district covers much of Lincoln Township. It was moved to adopt a property tax rate equal to or below the revenue neutral tax rate. The budget not to exceed the amount of $13,541 for 2026 was adopted.

• Linn County Cemetery District No. 4 - This district covers most of Scott Township. It was moved to adopt a property tax rate equal to or below the revenue neutral rate. The budget not to exceed the amount of $21,237 for 2026 was adopted.

• Linn County Sewer District No. 1 - This is for the Centerville waste water system. It was moved to adopt a property tax rate equal to or below the revenue neutral tax rate. The budget not to exceed the amount of $108,719 for 2026 was adopted.

• Linn County Rural Fire District No. 1 – This includes all of the rural fire stations in the county. It was moved to adopt a property tax rate equal to or below the revenue neutral tax rate. The budget not to exceed the amount of $1,131,536 for 2026 was adopted. This amount also includes the special fire budget.