The Madison County Board of Supervisors approved Budget Amendment No. 1 for fiscal year 2026 during a meeting that included a public hearing and multiple citizen comments.

Madison County Auditor Michelle Graham presented the amendment and said publication and notification requirements had been met. She outlined a set of service-area corrections and additions, including a $351 longevity adjustment for ambulance staff, a $2,700 county insurance change in environmental health, an IRLEM/CLG grant recorded as a pass-through (net zero), a set of salary and operational corrections the presentation identified as roughly $3,851, and a reorganization within the auditor/elections area that produced a net elections expense increase of $30,009.83, of which Graham said about $23,000 is the first installment in a three-year purchase of new voting equipment. Graham also noted an IT package request (server and replacement wireless access points) and provided a number of other line-item changes affecting building and grounds and work-comp premiums.

"This is the first amendment, and we submit a master form to the Department of Management," Graham said, summarizing the procedural steps and the kinds of corrections that prompted the amendment.

During the public-comment period, residents raised concerns about the county's use of outside counsel. Brent Sharon, who identified himself as a local resident, criticized the temperament and accuracy of the county's outside counsel and recounted an in-person meeting in which he said the outside counsel’s statements were contradicted by a county employee. "She seemed to be much more informed about the situation than he was," Sharon said, and he also referenced what he described as a previous quashed search warrant involving counsel's personal phone.

On the phone, Steve Swanson of Winterset disputed portions of Sharon’s account and pressed board members on the fiscal side. "My bigger concern is the $70,000 going outside counsel," Swanson said, alleging that some outside-counsel work had been used in matters that he characterized as personal litigation rather than county business.

Board members curtailed a back-and-forth between callers to keep the public hearing on schedule; the board accepted written comments into the record and closed the hearing.

After discussion, supervisors moved to adopt the resolution approving Budget Amendment No. 1. One supervisor said he would approve to correct necessary items but asked that the record show he was "really not in favor of $50,000 of ... suing each other." Another supervisor defended the board's decision as necessary to secure legal representation to protect county interests. The motion passed.

The board separately approved IT-related changes tied to a server replacement and the purchase of new WatchGuard wireless access points, which staff described as end-of-life equipment that must be replaced to maintain county connectivity and services. Staff said the replacements are time-sensitive because support for the current server and devices expires in January.

The board adjourned at 8:27 a.m.

What comes next: The approved budget amendment will be submitted as required to the Department of Management; the board did not set a further public meeting specific to this amendment during the session.