Proposed budget finalized by Board of Supervisors includes cuts in department requests, increases in certain levies

by Bob Beach

The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met several times last week to put the finishing touches on the County’s budget for the next fiscal year, beginning Tuesday, February 21 due to the Presidents Day holiday, and returning to regular session Monday, February 27.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21
Having met individually with department heads the previous week to review department budgets, the Board called a meeting of all department heads Tuesday afternoon, February 21 to request a 10 percent cut from all departments. “With the askings by departments and requests from the public, we need more money,” Board of Supervisors Chairman Larry Schellhammer said. “We can levy for more, or ask departments to help us out. This has not been an easy thing, but we feel it’s necessary.”
“We’re looking to trim and do a little tightening down,” Supervisor Sherry Strub said, noting that the Board had agreed on a 2.5% wage increase for elected officials and department heads. While the Compensation Board had recommended a five percent increase to bring County employee wages in line with the wages of employees in other counties of comparable size, Strub said, “County comparisons of wages are not apples to apples... I’m harping on wages this year. We’re very fortunate to have jobs, and you’re damn lucky you’re getting anything. I sometimes feel that everyone is not appreciative.”
“Government growth needs to be held down,” said Supervisor Lennie Burke. “This is serious business. We don’t want to do any finger pointing. We need to do this together.” Burke noted that the County’s budget includes some “big ticket items” such as approximately $300,000 for the Mississippi River Bike Trail (MRT), the total cost of a salary increase for County employees of roughly $100,000, and over $100,0000 (and counting) in legal fees resulting from the County’s effort to recover unpaid property taxes from the former Agriprocessors facility.
“The judge ruled in that case that somebody owes the taxes,” Burke said. “We will get the money.” County Treasurer Lori Hesse said that payment of the delinquent taxes will start “sooner rather than later,” as the judge recently ruled in favor of the bankruptcy trustee, so the facility’s current owner will be required to pay the delinquent taxes.
Most department heads were able to identify modest cuts in their proposed budgets, though few were able to match the Board’s requested 10 percent cut without cutting services. When all was said and done, the Board settled on a $20.6 million budget for the coming fiscal year, up from $17.1 million for the current fiscal year. The budget includes $5.6 million raised from property taxes, up from $5.1 million this year. The Rural Services levy will be increased 10 cents per $1,000 valuation and the General Supplemental levy will be increased 27.4 cents per $1,000 valuation.
A public hearing on the proposed budget has been scheduled for Monday, March 12 at 10 a.m. in the Board of Supervisors room at the courthouse in Waukon. A summary of the proposed budget is printed on page 8A in this week’s edition of The Standard.
In other business last Tuesday, the Board met with CPC Jan Heikes, who recommended instituting a waiting list for mental health and developmental disabilities services, excluding Medicaid services, outpatient treatment and voluntary inpatient services at state mental health institutes. Heikes explained that the budget for other services is “fully encumbered” and instituting a waiting list for those services may make the County eligible for additional funding from the State. The Board regretfully agreed to institute the waiting list.
The Board also listened to a presentation by Smokey Doyle of Bruening Rock Products on macadam roads and met in closed session with attorney Rick Zahasky to discuss ongoing union negotiations.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27
The Board met Monday, February 27 with CPC Jan Heikes, who requested that the Board make several appointments to the Mental Health and Disabilities Citizens Advisory Board, a nine-member board with several vacancies. The Board appointed John Howe, Jean Bossom, Becky Cleveland and Janel Clarke to the board. Heikes said there are still vacancies on the board that need to be filled by Allamakee County residents who have a family member who has received mental health or developmental disability services (in Allamakee County or elsewhere). Heikes added that new members should be male for the purpose of gender equality on the board.
In other business Monday, the Board appointed Marilyn Clark of Waukon to the Conservation Board and Elizabeth Mueller of Postville to the Compensation Commission. The Board also formalized its decision to reduce the five-percent pay increase for elected officials and department heads to 2.5 percent and set Monday, March 12 at 10 a.m. as the date and time for the public hearing on the County’s proposed budget for the next fiscal year.