Commission pushes budget decisions back against Oct. 1 deadline

By Charlene Sims

MOUND CITY – Linn County Commissioners Alison Hamilton and Jason Hightower made the decision on Monday, Sept. 15, to postpone the budget workshop that day until after next week’s commission meeting because Commissioner Jim Johnson was not at the meeting. He was also absent on Sept. 8.

On Aug. 25, the commissioners set workshops on Sept. 15, 22 and 29 so they could figure out a way to cut $854,378 from their budget after it was decided by a 1-to-1 vote at the revenue neutral hearing to hold spending at a rate set by the state. Hightower was absent at that meeting.

Scot Loyd, a consultant hired by the county to help with the budget process, had explained to the commissioners that the budget should be completed and published by Sept. 20 and forwarded to the state by Oct. 1.

At the Aug. 25 revenue neutral hearing, Hamilton asked if the vote about revenue neutral could be put off since Hightower was not there. County Counselor Jacklyn Paletta said that a vote on revenue neutral had to be taken when the revenue neutral hearing was completed.

Paletta explained that the only way the commission could put off locking in a revenue neutral budget was for either commissioner to make a motion that would allow the county to exceed the revenue neutral rate and both of them voting yes on the measure. Instead, Johnson made a motion to go revenue neutral and Hamilton voted against it. The split vote forced the county to go revenue neutral.

Loyd and Paletta had both recommended that the commissioners vote to exceed revenue and then work on paring down the budget in the next couple of weeks. County Clerk Danielle Souza also explained that if they voted to exceed revenue neutral they could work on lowering that in the next couple of weeks.

Nothing has been decided since that meeting about what to cut from the budget to meet the revenue neutral target. Discussion at the Aug. 25 hearing cent the commission had collected for the Southeast Technical Academy for Rural Students (STARS) program in the 2025 budget.

Johnson asked Souza to what the sheriff’s budget was for 2025 and the increase for 2026.

Souza told him that the sheriff’s budget for 2025 was $4,185,968. She then said Sheriff James Akes was asking for $4,732,566 for 2026. Loyd corrected her saying that the sheriff had lowered the amount to $4,679,974, nearly $495,000 more than last year.

Other money discussed was the $332,000 that the commission had collected for the STARS program but had not been distributed to them yet. (Hightower and Hamilton voted at the Sept. 8 meeting to release the money to the STARS program as the commission intended when it approval a 1 mill levy for 2024.)

Akes was at the Aug. 25 meeting earlier explaining how important the cost-of-living allowance (COLA) was to retaining employees in his department and the whole county. Akes offered suggestions for the future about allowing the employees more input and decision making on issues like determining what healthcare company was being chosen for the employees.