County Commissioners approve $8.3 million budget
HARTINGTON — Cedar County Commissioners Tuesday approved a tax levy of .310780 which is close to last years levy of .310830.
“Basically the levy is the same as last year,” said County Clerk Dave Dowling.
The Commissioners approved a budget that is close to $8.3 million at Tuesday’s hearing. Last year commissioners approved a $7.9 million budget.
This amount in the total budget includes money that will be obtained from grants and both Federal and State money that the county will receive.
The budget asks Cedar County taxpayers for approximately $2.7 million.
Even though the tax levy went down, the county valuation took a jump this year. Cedar County’s property valuation is at $862,615,815 this year – up from $799,585,659 last year.
According to Cedar County Assessor Don Hoesing, most of the increase in valuation came from agricultural land.
“The biggest reason for the raise was the increase in farm land,” said Hoesing. “I raised both dry land and irrigated land 10 percent. Grass land was raised, but not as much. There was an over-all raise of eight percent on the value of residential properties in Laurel. There were smaller raises within other towns.”
The tax request this year is approximately $195,000 higher than the tax request a year ago.
Part of the increase is due to a $90,000 increase in funds to the road departments. Each of the three districs will get $30,000 more in the new budget year.
“Gravel, fuel and labor are the three big expenses,” said Commissioner Marlen Kraemer. “Gravel went up. We all know what fuel did. It is down now, but we don’t know what it will do. The cost of steel is up for culverts.”
Another $22,000 incre ase in the Roads budget is mainly for the increase in insurance.
The Enhanced 911 budget calls for $10,000 this year, previously it has operated on fees that are being charged to residents’ phone lines.
“This is the first time E-911 has needed county tax dollars,” Dowling said. “The loss of revenue is due to less land-line phones in the county. More people have cell phones now.”
The remainder of the raise is for expenses in the general fund according to Dowling.
There have been a sizeable increase in the amount of money required for court-appointed legal aid since 2003.
Court-appointed attorney fees of $44,235 in 2003-04 jumped to $80,572 in the 2004-05 budget year. Expenses in 2005-06 were down to $63,339, although $100,000 was asked for. The budget is asking for $100,000 again this year for court-appointed attorney fees.
“That is what the Courts may need,” said Dowling. “The County Attorney has saved us money by using State Prosecutors which are paid by the Attorney General’s Office. Two plea bargains in the Shop EZ robbery saved a lot of money also.”
The Sheriff’s budget shows an increase up to $217,700 from the $174,939 which was spent last year. The increase includes the cost to purchase a new motor vehicle.
An increase of four per cent in health insurance for employees and an increase in wages for county employees have also raised the budget.