$121 million budget passes public hearing, heads to Monday certification

The annual public hearing on Linn County's budget passed without comment from residents Monday, as the supervisors prepare to certify the spending plan March 15.

The $121 million budget - about $55 million of it funded by local property taxes - adds $27 to the property tax bill of an urban house worth $200,000. County taxes typically account for roughly a fifth of a Cedar Rapids resident's tax bill.

Taxes are going up because county revenue - particularly at the Linn County Jail - is down about $2 million for the coming fiscal year, forcing the supervisors into a choice between cutting the proposed budget and raising taxes.

Two Linn County departments are getting cut. Juvenile Detention lost $150,000 in its budget, and the Youth Shelter will be eliminated.

Linn County's levy rate will be $6.07 per $1,000 in property value. Taxes are going up anyway because the valuations and the residential rollback will rise, but that's a 12 cent increase. It's still lower, however, than the proposed levy rates in Johnson, Black Hawk, Polk and Scott Counties. Of the five counties, Johnson's is the highest, at $7.41 per $1,000.

For the first time in at least a decade, the number of full-time employees working for Linn County will decline, from about 829 to 824. The county's union bargaining unit, which accounts for roughly 600 of those positions, makes up the bulk of the county's budget with its salaries and benefits.

Thanks to the union's contract with the county, bargaining unit employees got an across the board 3 percent raise last fiscal year and will get a 3.5 percent raise in 2010-2011. Management and elected official salaries were frozen last year, and elected officials will be frozen this year while management gets a 2.5 percent raise.

Supervisor Brent Oleson said it will be important to make mention of that in the next contract negotiation with the union.

“They have not been asked to - nor have they - sacrificed in any of the last three budgets,” Oleson said.