Linn County cuts budget, raises taxes

The Linn County supervisors had to pull out the trimmers, freeze some salaries and raise property taxes to make up a $2 million projected shortfall in the county's 2010-11 budget.

The county has spent nearly a month in budget discussions, but county budget officials raised a red flag about revenues after running the numbers Thursday night.

A $1.6 million drop in revenue from the Linn County Jail and about $400,000 less income from county investments combined to force swift action from the supervisors as they get ready to finalize the next fiscal year's budget on Tuesday.

The supervisors voted Friday to freeze the salaries of their fellow elected officials and their deputies; take $200,000 out of the proposed Secondary Roads budget; put off some capital repairs and vehicle replacements; cut economic development and conservation funding; and reduce a proposed 3 percent raise for non-elected managers to 2.5 percent.

Meanwhile, they voted to raise the property tax levy rate by 12 cents, which means an extra $28 on the county property tax bill for those whose homes are worth $200,000.

Supervisor Brent Oleson asked for a more aggressive cut to the budget, including 1 percent across-the-board cuts, but the other supervisors voted it down 4-1.

Supervisor Jim Houser said he doesn't see the increase in the levy rate as a tax increase because the county dropped the levy rate 19 cents last year.

“Last year, we reduced the levy rate by 19 cents and no one gave us any praise for that,” Houser said.

Oleson argued the levy rate is only one component in how much property taxes citizens pay. The other components - the rollback and the valuation - both increased last year and this year.

“I don't make a decision to lower the levy rate to get a parade,” Oleson said.

The county funding shortfall is due almost entirely to a decrease in federal inmates at the Linn County Jail. The county charges the federal government $25,000 per year to house a federal inmate. Before the flood, the jail averaged about 140 federal inmates per day. Now, jail officials project they'll house around 85 federal inmates per day.

The supervisors froze the pay of the sheriff, treasurer, recorder, auditor and county attorney despite the objections of Sheriff Brian Gardner and Treasurer Mike Stevenson.

“I have a hard time with what they did in there today, but yet they voted for an increase for mid-management,” Stevenson said after the meeting. “To me, it's a slap in the face.”

But when the Compensation Board met two days earlier to recommend a 4.5 percent pay increase, none of the elected officials took a position.

“It would have been nice if they would have taken that leadership position and said, ‘Give me the 4.5 percent because I'm worth it,' or ‘Give me a freeze,'” Supervisor Ben Rogers said.