SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KTIV) -
For the first time in years, the county's tax askings have gone down, but taxes are still going up.
Woodbury County will ask taxpayers to pay about $40,000 less than last year.
A combination of additional revenue, cash reserves, and cuts allowed the board of supervisors to decrease their budget.
The county accepted a two-percent salary increase for non-elected department managers.
However, the cuts, the county's finance manager says, have left every department bare bones.
"For over three-years they've actually to reduce two-percent over three years, this is the first years in three years we've allowed to them to at least get a little bit back, two-percent," said Dennis Butler.
Here's the proposal on the table:
Cities:
Residential: $13.59
Commercial: $-3.39
Townships:
Residential $13.76
Commercial $-12.45
Ag Land $16.09
*Per every $100,000 property owned
County leaders are considering a rural roads tax levee.
If that passes next week, taxes in townships would rise more.
Townships:
Residential $81.81
Commercial $122.08
Ag Land $96.72
*Per every $100,000 property owned
Taxes are going up in most cases, because of the statewide rollback. That's the percentage of a property's assessed value that is subject to be taxed. The residential rollback went up, while the commercial rollback went down.
The county also toyed with the idea of taking $100,000 in property taxes to shore up security at the courthouse.
The Tax Payers Research Council urged the county to find another source of revenue.
"If you're going to spend tax dollars actually have a plan for the use of those tax dollars. During the time, there was no plan, but they were talking about dollar amounts, so that just doesn't make sense," said James Van Bruggen, of the Taxpayers Research Council.
The county voted against commissioner Jackie Smith's motion. However, they may use $100,000 in riverboat funds to start making those security plans.
