Polk County staff present third-quarter budget cleanup, planned bond issuances

Deb Anderson, budget manager in the Board of Supervisors office, told the Board that the third-quarter amendment is intended to close out the prior fiscal year and “clean up what we certified for the new year” so the county begins the fiscal year with correct appropriations. She said interest earnings came in “about 1,300,000.0 more than what was in the budget” and that total interest earnings were “11,300,000.0,” and that other revenues such as county attorney collections and DHS reimbursements were higher than budgeted.

The amendment would carry forward unspent federal and ARPA-funded programs, reimbursements and capital projects. Anderson described ARPA set‑asides for mental health, economic well‑being, affordable housing and water quality and noted several specific carryforwards: roughly $1,600,000 in opioid settlement strategic objectives for recovery housing; about $6,000,000 for owner‑occupied home repair programs run through the Neighborhood Finance Corporation (NFC); and an unspecified remaining balance of interest earnings (Anderson said “It’s around 2,500,000.0. The interest earnings are what’s remaining”). She also listed capital carryforwards including $3,700,000 for Welcome Center construction, about $3,600,000 for asset repair and replacement, $1.5 million for vehicle replacement, and $1,000,000 set aside for school radio amplifiers (approximately $300,000 spent to date).

Anderson said some offices requested revenue and expenditure changes that offset each other, including an $11,000,000 pass‑through for a Disability Access Point contract and a projected $4,500,000 increase in revenue tied to an increase in the jail per‑diem rate from 105 to 160. She described grant adjustments of about $4,400,000—largely in public works for HUD and EPA—and FEMA reimbursements of approximately $1,600,000 for storm cleanup. She said the Life Services Center in Des Moines agreed to pay about $500,000 toward county expenditures.

On bonding, Anderson said the county plans two series: a tax‑exempt series for capital improvements not related to the jail and a taxable series for matters counsel recommended be treated as taxable because of private‑use concerns. She listed planned items and amounts for the tax‑exempt portion including capital improvements, a sanitary sewer appropriation, and $5,000,000 for Invest DSM (Housing Trust Fund and Neighborhood Finance Corporation work), and said previously issued bonds from 2024 would be reallocated so jail and elevator improvements would be reissued as taxable bonds. Anderson said the taxable series would also include Polk County Water and Land Legacy projects, with roughly $7,000,000 noted for ICON water trails and the remainder for land acquisition, trails, and natural resources restoration.

Next procedural steps Anderson outlined were a resolution authorizing publication of the amendment (scheduled for the board packet next week), a public hearing on the amendment on Oct. 7, a preliminary official statement for the bond sale, a bond sale scheduled for Oct. 20, board approval of the sale the following day, and later authorization to issue notes. No formal vote on the amendment or bond issuance occurred at the meeting; staff presented the amendment and outlined the publication/hearing/sale timeline for future board action.

The budget discussion included questions by supervisors about line‑item detail, timing of carryforwards, and whether certain increases would be rolled into the base appropriations so they would not require repeated third‑quarter cleanups in future years. Anderson said some adjustments—such as the jail per‑diem appropriation change—were being placed in the base so the county would not repeatedly amend that line each year. She also said some timing differences cause revenue and spending to fall in different fiscal years, and that the net fiscal impact over time should be neutral.

Public finance steps described by staff establish a sequence of board approvals and public hearings; the board did not adopt the amendment or bonds during the meeting. The board will consider the resolution authorizing publication and hold the Oct. 7 public hearing before any sale is finalized.