The Marshall County Board of Supervisors moved through a large amount of agenda items in a relatively short amount of time during Wednesday morning’s regular meeting, including crossing off perhaps their most daunting annual task: finalizing the budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins on July 1.

After moving through a series of procedural motions and brief public hearings on the 2025-2026 budget amendment, 2025-2026 decrease in appropriations and 2025-2026 reappropriation of funds, Board of Supervisors Chair Jarret Heil provided a breakdown of the FY 2026-2027 budget.

“A lot of work has gone into this. We appreciate all the department heads. We appreciate, especially, the Auditor/Recorder’s office, Maria (Vargas Gonzalez) and Nan (Benson), for all your help on this,” he said. “And even though there’s not a lot of public here, we did have (some) public at our hearing we had a couple weeks ago. It’s good to have some participation.”

He added that property taxes remain “a huge issue” across the state as the legislature attempts to pass a reform package for the governor’s approval before diving into the specific details of the most recent budget. According to the most recent audit review, the general fund balance increased to $389,000, no new debt was taken on during FY 24-25, and the overall outstanding debt was reduced from $2.56 million to $1.9 million — the county’s maximum debt capacity is $170 million. The overall net position, Heil said, was $90.97 million.

“We had a nice clean audit, and we appreciate Eide Bailly for their work on that audit,” he said.

During the current fiscal year of 2025-2026, estimated revenues have gone up $700,000, and expenses have increased by $1.1 million, resulting in a reappropriation motion that had just been approved. The total fund balance is 29 percent of expenditures, above the 20 to 25 percent the state recommends, and no new debt has been added.

As for the 26-27 budget, overall property valuation has grown by 2.98 percent, and the total budget has been reduced by seven percent from $41.2 million to $38.3 million. He also reported a slight decrease in revenues and said the budgeting is meant to reflect Gov. Kim Reynolds’ philosophy on limiting increases in property taxes.

The overall levy rate proposal has been reduced from $9.36 to $9.26 per $1,000 of valuation. What people care most about, Heil noted, is how much they are actually paying on a year-to-year basis due to recent spikes in valuations, and he said the overall property tax revenues collected will total $16.53 million, a two percent increase.

“I think the key thing is that’s the two percent number that you keep hearing from the state legislature and the governor on where they want the property tax growth at,” Heil said. “If you stay in that two percent or less level, you’re likely to have your valuations be above that, and that’s where we’re able to keep property taxes low.”

Heil also highlighted a 4.5 percent increase in the budget for the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) while summarizing his earlier points and reiterated that the county’s increase in overall revenues is about a percentage point below its growth in valuations.

“That’s a recipe for protecting the tax dollars and the taxpayers here in Marshall County,” he said. “Thanks again to our whole county team. To put a budget together is no small task. You’re reviewing numbers all the time, but you really start getting heavy into it in November, December, January, February into all these hearings. Even though there wasn’t a lot of comment from people in public hearings, we have that open process required by law, and all people are invited and welcome to participate.”

The board voted unanimously to approve the budget as presented, which prompted Heil to let out an audible “Yes!” signifying his relief that the process was finally over.

“Great job everybody,” he said.

In other business, the board:

• Recognized Susan Umbdenstock for 10 years of service to the Auditor/Recorder’s Office.

• Approved the consent agenda as listed.

• Approved a total of four change orders totaling approximately $5,000 with OPN Architects and Garling Construction for the Jail/Sheriff’s Office renovation project.

• Approved a $2,500 donation to the Marshalltown Red, White and Blue Celebration fireworks display.

• Approved an engagement letter for the River’s Edge subdivision and authorized the chair to sign.

• Approved the renewal of agreements with HealthPartners Inc. for the employee medical benefit plan, Delta Dental Plan of Iowa for the employee dental benefit plan and Sourcewell for the life, accidental death and dismemberment, long-term and short-term disability benefits.

• During the public comment period, Auditor/Recorder Nan Benson clarified that the identification cards in Marshall County referenced in a recent WHO-13 news story due to state legislation seeking to ban them were not issued by her office but through a nonprofit organization called Central Iowa Community IDs, which is based in Ames.

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Contact Robert Maharry

at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.