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Supervisors review draft 2025 drainage assessments, raise concerns about FEMA accounting; board moves to closed session on drainage clerk performance
Summary
Supervisors reviewed draft fall 2025 drainage assessments and asked staff to improve per‑project detail and accounting after staff flagged significant outstanding FEMA reimbursements and accrued interest.
Kossuth County supervisors reviewed preliminary fall 2025 drainage assessment worksheets and a working list of repairs, outstanding warrants, waivers and FEMA funds. County staff described the draft spreadsheet as a work in progress and said some closeouts (notably DD 60 Sub 4) still need final completion hearings and final invoicing before a definitive levy can be calculated.
Supervisors asked for more transparency and historical context in the spreadsheet: they requested columns identifying supervising district(s), project numbers and prior years’ assessment totals so board members and landowners can trace invoices, repair‑request numbers and the amounts assessed in prior years. Staff agreed the spreadsheet should be kept current throughout the year rather than assembled only in April, and the board discussed establishing a firm cutoff (the speaker suggested using a month‑end cutoff such as April month‑end) so annual assessments are predictable.
Board members repeatedly pressed staff about the county’s handling of FEMA funds and interest: several drains still show substantial accrued interest because bills from earlier FEMA projects (notably 2019 work) remain on the books while the county awaits final FEMA closeout payments. Staff said FEMA funds for some projects are in appeal and that FEMA closeout review is expected to be considered again July 1. Supervisors asked whether FEMA receipts are applied to the specific invoices FEMA was meant to reimburse or are instead used to pay the oldest outstanding warrants; staff said this routing is handled in the treasurer’s office and flagged the matter for follow‑up with the treasurer (Nick) so the board can get code references and a clear accounting procedure.
Clerks and supervisors discussed several numeric examples on the draft sheet: DD 60 Sub 4 was noted as having an estimated assessment need of about $2,900,000 before waivers; another summary line showed outstanding warrants of roughly $219,000 and waivers due of about $384,000 for a large district; the board flagged an interest total in the order of $121,000 on one large project and asked staff to explain and break those figures out by invoice and project number. Staff said some of the large interest amounts stem from invoices outstanding since FEMA’s 2019 damage claims and will be reconciled when closeout decisions are finalized.
Supervisors directed staff to prepare a clearer, editable spreadsheet (recommended Excel) with per‑project detail (repair request numbers, invoices and project numbers), a supervisor/district column, and a running total that is kept current through the year.
The board then voted to enter a closed session under Iowa Code 21.5(1)(i) at the request of the drainage clerk to evaluate the drainage clerk’s performance. Supervisor Stecker moved and Supervisor Wachter seconded the motion; a roll call recorded Haas, Garman, Stecker, Wachter and Nash as voting yes. The motion carried and the board proceeded to closed session.
