Linn County commissioners trim contingency to reach revenue-neutral budget, discuss sales tax for ambulance service

Linn County commissioners at a budget workshop directed staff to reduce contingency and capital outlay to bring the 2026 budget to an estimated revenue-neutral mill rate and spent more than an hour discussing pay adjustments and a possible sales-tax measure to fund ambulance operations.

Commissioners instructed staff to adjust the general-fund contingency by about $143,186 and reissue the budget document reflecting that change. County staff said the adjustment would bring the levy to a revenue-neutral rate estimated in the workshop at 35.086. Commissioners said they preferred taking the one-time reduction from contingency and capital outlay rather than revising individual department budgets already reviewed.

The worksheet staff circulated applies each department's share of total expenditures to the shortfall to produce one option for reaching revenue neutrality; staff described that calculation as one of several possible approaches. Commissioners repeatedly said economic development funding should be preserved and that the contingency reduction was the simplest, least disruptive way to reach the target.

The panel also discussed employee pay. Commissioners confirmed the draft budget reflects no cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) built into the pay matrix for 2026 but that merit-step increases already included in department budgets remain. Staff and commissioners reviewed figures for potential COLA scenarios during the workshop and noted the county could make a one-time pay adjustment later in the year if cash allowed.

Separately, one commissioner proposed moving ambulance funding from property tax to a voter-approved increase in the county sales tax so visitors and non-property owners also contribute. Staff described recent changes to the schedule for placing sales-tax questions on ballots and said, under the guidance they had reviewed, new county sales-tax measures would typically be placed on one of three regular election dates (a March election, an August primary date, or the November general election), with the county attorney and outside counsel available to confirm statutory details.

Staff and commissioners discussed what projects are eligible for a public sales tax and said sales-tax proceeds typically must be tied to specific public-purpose categories such as public safety, roads and bridges, or buildings. They noted that sales tax can be structured to fund building upkeep or equipment for ambulance service but that statutory language and debt limits can affect whether a public-building commission or other mechanism is required.

At the close of the workshop commissioners agreed on the contingency approach and asked staff to produce a revised budget showing the $143,186 change; a motion reflecting the change was moved, seconded and approved by voice vote at the end of the session.

The workshop included extended discussion of other budget lines (the 4-H building, airport allocations and sheriff and road-and-bridge budgets), but commissioners said those will remain largely as presented unless new information arrives. Staff will return with a revised budget document reflecting the contingency reduction and with additional legal guidance for any future sales-tax proposal.

Ending: The commission did not adopt a final levy ordinance at the workshop; staff said final certification of assessed values and any later valuation corrections could change the final mill rate slightly before the levy is formally adopted.