Board adopts FY25 budget amendment; finance staff warn fund balance use after bond sale and $750,000 pledge

The Black Hawk County Board of Supervisors on May 20 adopted an amendment to the fiscal‑year 2025 budget authorizing additional revenue and increased appropriations across multiple county funds and projects.

Michelle Walton, the county finance director, told the board the published amendment shows an increase in total revenue of about $2.4 million, driven largely by bond proceeds, and proposed additional expenses across departments of roughly $3.1 million. Walton said the county started fiscal 2025 with about $28.04 million in unassigned fund balance and that the board’s planned capital and ARPA commitments will reduce available unassigned fund balance by several million dollars this year.

"I put question marks in there for this year’s performance as we are far from the end of the year," Walton said while presenting projections. She told the board that including the proposed $750,000 pledge toward the Waterloo evidence facility would raise the county’s planned draw on fund balance to about $4 million for fiscal 2025 and reduce the unassigned fund balance as a percentage of projected expenses.

Walton summarized planned uses included in the amendment: payments on the bond sale, capital purchases that were delayed in prior years, match funding for a community pool project, Veterans Affairs renovation work and transfers for ARPA projects. She said the secondary‑roads fund will use reserves to cover delivered equipment that had been budgeted in earlier years but received this year. The budget amendment also added an expense to cover an IRS payroll tax penalty that county staff expect will be refunded.

At the meeting, county staff additionally noted Moody’s assigned the county an AA2 bond rating ahead of a bond sale scheduled for the afternoon; the county’s rating was unchanged and Moody’s noted reserves and low long‑term liabilities as strengths. Walton and other staff cautioned that Moody’s indicated a sustained decline in cash and fund balances below 50% of operating funds or a material increase in long‑term leverage could hurt the rating.

Supervisors voted to adopt the FY25 amendment after discussion and a roll call vote. The amendment gives county departments spending authority in nine major budget categories and moves several committed projects from unassigned to committed fund balance. Walton provided a five‑year projection of fund balance under best‑case assumptions and emphasized the figures were estimates: "These percentages and amounts are estimates," she said. "Actuals will vary as revenues and expenses are finalized."

The board also approved related resolutions authorizing the finance director to adjust appropriations and to file the necessary secondary‑roads amendment with the Iowa DOT.