Linn County board approves $496,000 in vehicles for fiscal 2026

The Linn County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Jan. 31 to approve $496,000 in requested vehicle purchases for fiscal 2026.

Board member moved to approve $496,000 for fiscal year 2026 requested vehicles, and the motion “absolutely carries,” the board recorded following an aye vote. The vehicle package will be funded with a mixture of one-time money and recurring allocations, county staff said.

“It's a mixture of one-time money and then there was $160,000 allocated out of the budget, which is the same amount as last year,” a county staff member said during the meeting. Staff said roughly $340,000 of the approved total is one-time funding and the remainder is covered by the annual allocation.

County staff singled out three vehicles for the Linn County Juvenile Detention Center. A staff speaker who recently attended the juvenile detention board meeting said the center receives used vehicles from the sheriff’s office and some of those are “barely making it,” and that the three new vehicles are “very much needed” for staff safety.

The motion was made and approved without a roll-call tally recorded in the public transcript; minutes state the motion carried unanimously.

The board moved directly from the vehicle vote to consider capital improvement plan changes later in the meeting.

Ending: The approved vehicle purchases are budgeted for fiscal 2026 and will be procured as departments complete the county purchasing process; no additional contracting details were provided at the meeting.