Publisher says Linn County budget notice omission was a printing error; paper produced special insert

Jackie Taylor, publisher of the Linn County News, told the Board of Commissioners on Aug. 11 that the paper did not intentionally omit Linn County’s notice of intent to exceed the revenue neutral rate and that staff produced a special four‑page insert to remedy a printing and communication error.

Taylor said the paper receives dozens of budget notices and that the county’s revenue‑neutral form was received during a multi‑day exchange of emails and, for an 8–9 day period, was not clearly acknowledged. She said the paper created a four‑page insert, paid roughly $750 for printing and insertion, and physically inserted the special edition into the regular paper to ensure legal notice requirements were met. “We do not pick and choose what legals what public notices go into the paper,” Taylor said.

Taylor described two options the paper considered after discovering the missing notice: publish the notice in a newspaper of wider circulation or create a special insert and distribute it in time for the county’s Aug. 25 hearing. She said the newspaper chose the latter and that she had communicated with county staff to correct errors in the notice text (an earlier draft listed the notice to “Pratt County” rather than Linn County).

Taylor said the paper has a checklist and proofing process and that the circumstances leading to the special insert were unusual; she asked only that the county not assume the omission was intentional. Commissioners asked questions; one commissioner said the county would follow up on internal deadlines and communications to reduce the risk of recurrence. Taylor said she would discuss potential reimbursement of printing costs with county staff later but that ensuring valid public notice was the priority.

The discussion took place during public comment; no formal action on the paper’s request for reimbursement was recorded in the meeting transcript.