Linn County supervisors exploring options to plug $1.7M gap from state’s rollback error

CEDAR RAPIDS — In light of a state error leaving local governments in the lurch and down millions in expected revenue as they set their budgets for the 2024 fiscal year, the Linn County Board of Supervisors is exploring which items it can do without.

The three-member board said nothing is final yet in a Friday meeting about where to trim an estimated $1.7 million from the budget that runs July 1 through June 30, 2024.

“Even if you're mentioned, that doesn't mean that's where (cuts are) coming from,” Supervisor Chair Louie Zumbach told county staff. “It just means it's something that's out there, so I don't want anybody to leave here thinking the sky is falling, although it is being lowered a little bit.”

Lawmakers are advancing a proposal to fix an error that, while good news for the pocketbooks of taxpayers, would leave governments scaling back public services they had planned. The Iowa Department of Revenue erroneously calculated a rollback rate of 56.5 percent — compared to what should be 54.6 percent. Taxpayers use the rollback rate to determine how much of the value of their property is subject to property taxes.

Supervisor Ben Rogers said the county was looking to be as transparent as possible.

“I hope people can understand the challenge we find ourselves in, really not of our own doing,” Rogers said. “ … We want to do this in an open, collaborative partnership.”

Supervisors asked staff to draft a list of discretionary items to identify possible cuts, anticipating the bill will be signed into law next week. It would give cities and counties until April 30 to have their budgets approved and certified to the state and county auditor — an extension of the current March 31 deadline.

Nonessential travel and trainings will likely be scaled back next budget year.

Another item on the preliminary list includes the county’s $50,000 contribution to the Creating Safe, Equitable and Thriving Communities task force, which worked to identify the root causes of gun violence and develop strategies to address them. Linn County, Cedar Rapids and the Cedar Rapids Community School District contributions helped establish the SET Fund in 2018.

Among the initiatives that fund has supported is Group Violence Intervention, the gun violence reduction strategy focused on those at risk of being offenders or victims of violence. It is managed by nonprofit Foundation 2.

Linn County Public Health in 2021 was awarded a $1.25 million federal grant to reduce youth gun violence, so there would still be money through other county departments supporting the goal of violence reduction if the board opted to cut it.

Also on the county’s list of discretionary items were grants for economic development, grants to promote tourism, vehicle purchases, historic preservation and interns who aren’t funded by grants.

Supervisors Kirsten Running-Marquardt and Rogers were open to considering using federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to plug some of the budget gaps. The COVID-19 relief package can be used in part to replenish revenue losses.

Rogers said that would give county officials a year to review the items subject to cuts.

“Once we cut, whether it's intentional or not, it is hard to put it back into a budget if you have to raise the levy rate,” Rogers said.

Zumbach didn’t favor this approach and cautioned against using onetime funding to address what could be a permanent change to the budget.

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