Supervisors begin FY26 budget work session; Soil Conservation asks for $10,000 and staff outline options to close gap

The Board of Supervisors spent a large portion of its Feb. 18 meeting in a budget work session on the FY26 draft county budget, hearing a $10,000 request from the Black Hawk County Soil Conservation District and reviewing staff proposals to narrow a shortfall.

Terry Thornsberry and Vern Fish, representing the Soil Conservation District, asked supervisors to increase annual support to $10,000. Thornsberry said the district leverages small local funding to secure matching federal and institutional funding for practices including cover crops, a rain-barrel demonstration and internship programs tied to Hawkeye Community College and Upper Iowa. "One of the beauties of what we do is, you give us a nickel, we'll rub it together and we'll come up with a dollar," he said. The district said it logged nearly $966,000 (speaker attribution noted) in conservation-practice value in a recent year and emphasized continuing partnerships and outreach.

Auditor and budget staff presented a draft showing a general-fund gap; the administrator said a draft gap figure stood at about $463,325. The board discussed multiple levers to reduce the gap: shifting a portion of patrol deputy costs to the rural levy, adjusting transfers to the secondary roads fund, rethinking library funding levels, using reserve dollars for one-time items, and trimming professional-fee and training budgets in departments.

Sheriff's office staff outlined roughly $100,000 in potential operating savings through modest cuts and timing changes (training reductions, fewer vehicle replacements this year, equipment reclassification to capital items), and said some of those savings could be achieved by delaying vehicle purchases and converting certain operating items to capital funding. The sheriff's presentation also noted that planned rotations and accidents affected vehicle-replacement timing.

Supervisors discussed courthouse security and staffing options. Currently the county uses an outsourced security contractor to staff the courthouse entrance; the board discussed adding a third armed position or alternatives such as hiring county deputies, using civilian detention officers trained to carry, recruiting retirees, or offering overtime opportunities for off-duty deputies. Board members asked staff to return with cost scenarios: the county's outsourced security contract and a Pinecrest facility security line item were discussed (county staff referenced an approximate $47,000 annual cost for Pinecrest security). The sheriff said he lacked staffing immediately to provide a full security detachment but said civilian detention officers with firearms training could be an option.

County staff also briefed the board on attorney-office space options. A properties scan included the annex/library building across the street and the Walsh building; staff noted square footage needs of roughly 3,300 square feet for a fully staffed county-attorney office and provided a rough cost estimate for renovating the annex/library if the county pursued a move. The board asked for a follow-up walkthrough and a deeper third-party review before any property purchase or lease decision.

Other items discussed: township trustees' meeting pay (a board option to raise the per-meeting rate from $10 to $20 was already reflected in planning figures), community-funding scenarios (the board asked staff to model 6%, 7.6% and 10% scenarios for library funding), and the effects of House File 17/18 (state-level changes that will reduce county revenues in coming years). Budget staff reported a recent improvement from grant and interest revenue but cautioned that CD rates and ARPA drawdown will reduce near-term interest earnings.

Why it matters: supervisors must balance statutory levy limits, budget reserves and service levels. The work session began the process of narrowing the gap and prioritizing projects and staffing in advance of required state filings in early March.