Madison County supervisors direct staff to advertise maximum 52¢ tax rate for public hearing, approve tax-deadline extension

The Madison County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday directed staff to advertise a maximum real-property tax rate of $0.52 per $100 of assessed value for upcoming hearings and approved a resolution extending the calendar‑year tax due date to June 20, 2025.

County finance staff, led by Jennifer Warren, told the board that to balance the operating budget under current assumptions the county would need roughly a three-cent increase in the real-estate tax rate. "We'd have to raise 3¢ pretty much to balance the budget," Warren said while reviewing revenue and spending scenarios. After discussion the board agreed to advertise a maximum rate of $0.52 (the equalized rate is 49¢) and to allow public hearings where supervisors can adopt a lower figure.

Warren walked supervisors through a package of department and outside-agency reductions that reduced the preliminary requests and narrowed the opening-appropriation gap. Staff said the capital-financing options presented earlier by Davenport — interim borrowing and package financing — influenced the recommended approach to preserve fund balance while balancing the operating budget.

The board also voted to adopt Resolution 2025‑3 to move the county's tax payment deadline this year from the statutory June 5 date to June 20, 2025. County staff explained the later date corrects an earlier scheduling error and provides a consistent, single-date extension for property taxpayers; the resolution passed on a voice vote without a roll-call tally.

On administrative fees, staff recommended two modest adjustments for advertisement and public hearing: raise the county transfer-station commercial haul rate from $0.65 per ton to $0.70 per ton, and consider a small increase in animal-shelter adoption fees (staff proposed a $5 increase as a starting point and discussed a possible tiered fee based on age/size). Supervisors asked staff to refine fee language and revenue estimates before the public hearing.

Other budget details discussed at length included departmental capital requests for fiscal 2026: EMS equipment leases and an ambulance replacement schedule, servers and IT hardware, school facility priorities (windows, HVAC and auditorium AV), fleet purchases for the sheriff and building & zoning, and possible shift of some projects out of FY26. Staff and the board agreed to refine the school and county CIP lists, ask departments for specific life‑cycle and lease‑vs‑buy analyses, and return with a final draft budget at next week's meeting.

Votes and formal actions: The board adopted the agenda at the start of the meeting (motion and second; voice vote) and later approved Resolution 2025‑3 extending the tax deadline to June 20, 2025 (motion, second; voice vote — "Aye"). The board made no final tax-rate adoption at this meeting; the staff was directed to advertise a maximum rate of $0.52 and bring formal rates and the budget back for the statutory public hearings.

Why this matters: Advertising a maximum rate begins the public-notice process required by state law and starts public hearings that will determine the county's tax levy. The tax-deadline extension affects the due date for most real-estate payments this year and is intended to give taxpayers a short administrative extension.

Next steps: Staff will post the advertised tax rate and proposed administrative fee changes, refine revenue and department scenarios for a final budget presentation next week, provide detailed breakdowns of capital requests (schools and county), and return with recommended language for fee changes and any contingency items the board asks to earmark.