Grant County Fiscal Court accepts library tax rate, renews water‑rescue MOU and adopts two zoning ordinances

The Grant County Fiscal Court unanimously approved three routine but consequential items at its Aug. 19, 2025 meeting: accepting the Grant County Public Library's tax rate for the 2025–26 year, renewing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the volunteer Grant County Water Rescue dive team, and adopting two second‑reading zoning ordinances for separate rural parcels.

The library's board chose the compensating tax rate for 2025–26, which county staff said keeps library revenue roughly level with last year despite assessment increases. Pat Goodman, director of the Grant County Public Library, told the court, “It's doing great. Statistics are up, usage is up. We had a great summer reading, statistical increases across the board throughout summer, and the entire fiscal year.” Goodman also read the tax‑rate lines used on the library's levy: “The compensating tax rate is 9.1 on real property…personal property tax rate is 11.03. Motor vehicle is 3,” and reported the figure shown on the statement for total revenues coming in.

Why it matters: accepting the compensating rate preserves the library's expected revenue stream without increasing the tax burden per dollar of assessed value; the court's action simply formalized the library board's choice and authorized the county to use the rate on the tax roll.

Court members then considered and approved a renewed MOU between the county and the Grant County Water Rescue dive team. Judge Executive Chuck Dills described the agreement as necessary for emergency‑management affiliation at the state level so the volunteer dive team can be called for rescues and be eligible for cost reimbursement from state and federal emergency management programs. Dills said the MOU renews year to year and includes a termination provision: it continues unless either party requests termination in writing. He told the court the group is volunteer and “they're not even paid,” and that the agreement helps the county seek reimbursement for equipment and expenses when the team is called out for floods, drownings and other water incidents.

Finally, the court passed two second‑reading ordinances to change zoning classifications on private properties:

- Ordinance No. 000820250291: a request by Larry Fornash Jr. to rezone a 3.15‑acre parcel at 4165 Sherman Mountain Zion Road from Agriculture‑1 (A‑1) to Residential RR. The court voted to pass the ordinance on second reading.

- Ordinance No. 000920250292: a request by Allen Finney Jr., Brian Finney and Michael Snapp to rezone an 11.735‑acre parcel located about 0.3 miles south of the intersection of Elston Napoleon Road and Elston Mount Zion Road from Agriculture‑1 (A‑1) to Residential R‑1A. The court voted to pass the ordinance on second reading.

All three measure votes were taken verbally with the court answering “aye”; minutes record the motions as carried.

Quotes and attributions in the meeting reflect those speakers' remarks as recorded in the public transcript. The court took no further substantive policy actions at the meeting.

Ending: The court noted the next regular meeting is scheduled for Sept. 2, 2025, at 6 p.m. at the Grant County Courthouse and discussed rescheduling the September regular meeting to a special meeting on Monday, Sept. 15, 2025, to accommodate calendar conflicts.