Supervisors hold hearing on property tax

On Monday, the Wright County Board of Supervisors held a public hearing on Maximum Property Tax Dollars. In the proposed plan, there would be increases in tax dollars requested in the general services fund (7.36% increase) and in the rural services fund (15.29% increase). A couple county residents were present to comment and ask questions. Someone noted that a 15% property tax increase is “ridiculous.”

The board explained that there will not be a 15% increase across the board. Auditor Betty Ellis said it’s an increase in the tax askings that does not necessarily equate to a 15% increase in taxes levied to individuals. Supervisor Dean Kluss noted in the models they ran, the largest increase would be about a $1 increase per acre on a 40 acre parcel depending on location, with less for town property owners. Ellis added that this only pertains to the county portion of people’s taxes, in other words, not taxes levied by other entities such as the cities, school districts and colleges. The board eventually passed the maximum property tax dollars resolution. The hearing for the overall budget is scheduled for March 14 at 9:30 a.m. Grab next week’s paper for a deep dive story into the property tax issue.

In the open forum section for the public, a couple people raised concerns about the county’s plan to enter into the $1.425 million loan for conservation initiatives, including purchasing ground around Lake Cornelia and Elm. Bob Ritter noted that a loan that large will accrue over $42,000 in interest per year and that it is concerning if taxpayers have to foot that bill. Kluss stated that the loan is structured so that camping revenues at Lake Cornelia and farm ground rent will be used to pay it. Ellis added that they will not be levying any additional taxes to pay for the loan.

The board passed a resolution approving the disbursement of funds for the American Rescue Plan act. The county received $2.4 million for COVID relief and have so far earmarked around $1.8 million for projects throughout the county such as daycares, broadband at Lake Cornelia and other COVID mitigation efforts. Check back in next week’s paper for a longer story on where the funds are going. 

Peggy Schluttenhofer, Wright County Treasurer, presented a letter from the US Fish and Wildlife Service requesting abatement of drainage assessments and to be taken off of the delinquent list.  Per Iowa code, that entity does not have to pay drainage assessments on any ground owned in Wright County. Kluss has been lobbying for legislation to change that as other landowners are left to shoulder the payments. The board voted to keep the US Fish and Wildlife Service on the delinquent list and not abate again. 

In the COVID update, Sandy McGrath said there has been a decline in cases with 40 new ones in the county last week. She added though that those numbers may be skewed since there is so much at home testing now happening. Recorded cases that go into the county total are those that are identified through a lab, Public Health, or Test Iowa. The county is at a 55.8% vaccination rate. McGrath noted that Public Health can still test for COVID and offers vaccinations at their office. She said that though the state’s Public Health Disaster Emergency Proclamation is ending on February 15, the state will continue to monitor for variants and notify the public of changes and concerns.