Jackson County legislators voted unanimously Sept. 30 to adopt a floor amendment that holds 2025 county property tax levies at current rates rather than the higher amounts proposed by county administration.

The amendment — offered during debate on ordinance 6024, the county's 2025 tax levy ordinance — was introduced by Legislator Manny Abarca and seconded by Legislator Sean Smith. After discussion and a roll-call vote, the legislature approved the amendment and then adopted the ordinance with the amended rates.

Why it matters: Legislators framed the amendment as a short-term measure to avoid increasing the county's portion of property tax bills while officials monitor uncertain assessed values, a pending recall effort and potential future adjustments that state processes could require.

During the discussion, Abarca described the amendment as "holding our levies at the current rate and not increasing them" and said the county could draw on reserve funds to cover the resulting shortfall. Abarca said the county faced a budget gap of about $196,513 and suggested using undesignated fund balance reserves to cover the difference.

Legislator Sean Smith told colleagues he had emailed a table showing the fiscal effects of keeping levies flat. Smith summarized the spreadsheet, saying holding the rates proposed by the amendment would produce roughly a $207,000 shortfall against the general fund level in the current budget but would produce surpluses in the health and parks funds and a shortfall for the special road and bridge fund; on net, Smith said, the amendment equated to about a $200,000 difference from the administration's original proposal.

County finance staff member Mr. Gordon advised that sales-tax allocations could be modified among funds to meet budget targets and explained how a future recoupment levy works: if assessed values are later reduced through local board of equalization actions, state law or court action, the state auditor's office can authorize a countywide recoupment levy up to three years to recover lost revenue. "The recoupment levy could be spaced out over 1, 2, or 3 years," Mr. Gordon said.

The amendment set individual levies as follows (sponsor'provided figures): general fund 0.201 (down from the administration's proposed 0.2162), health fund 0.144 (from 0.1458), park fund 0.0962 (from 0.098), special road and bridge 0.0644 (from 0.0692), and senior services unchanged at 0.05. The sponsor reported the combined rate would fall from 0.5792 under the administration proposal to 0.5556 under the amendment.

Formal actions: Abarca moved to adopt the floor amendment; Sean Smith seconded. The roll call on accepting the amendment recorded nine yes votes and no no votes; the legislature then perfected and adopted the ordinance with the amended levies by unanimous voice and roll-call votes.

Discussion vs. decision: The record shows extended discussion about timing, reserve balances, and risks of future recoupment levies. Legislators repeatedly requested earlier delivery of levy and valuation data in future years so they would have more time to deliberate. No further direction to staff was recorded beyond explanations from finance staff about the recoupment process and allocation flexibility.

Legislators also voted earlier in the meeting to adopt ordinances setting levies for other dedicated funds (ordinances 6021, 6022 and 6023); those votes recorded eight yes, one absent, and were not the subject of extended debate.

Next steps: Legislators asked that finance provide earlier documentation in future levy cycles, and several members said they want an earlier briefing in August next year so the legislature has more time to deliberate.