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Historic preservation group asks Harrison County Commission to place $491,000 excess levy on May ballot
Summary
Representatives of a 14-agency Historic Preservation Alliance asked the Harrison County Commission to place a proposed $491,000 historic-preservation excess levy on the May primary ballot, with roughly $70,000 a year earmarked for cemetery preservation; commissioners asked staff for tax-impact figures and cautioned about levy capacity amid declining property values.
Representatives of a newly formed Historic Preservation Alliance asked the Harrison County Commission on Oct. 15 to consider placing an excess levy on the May 2026 primary ballot to fund local museums, historic sites and cemetery preservation.
"We would propose that you consider the creation of the levy ... on the May 12 primary election ballot," said Mike Queen, a Bridgeport resident who spoke for the alliance. He said the proposal would produce up to $491,000 annually and that about $70,000 of that would go toward historic cemetery preservation.
The alliance said the funding would be split into two categories: recurring dedicated funding for the 14 participating organizations and a roughly $240,000 annual contingency pool, to be administered by a five-member board appointed by the county commission and subject to final commission approval.
Commissioners thanked the group for the presentation but pressed for more data on tax burden and the interaction with other levies. One commissioner noted county property values have fallen and that tax-collection capacity is limited; on the record, a commissioner said the county "lost over $44,000,000" in taxable value, a point other commissioners said should factor into any levy decision.
Speakers for the alliance told the commission they would work with the assessor to provide class-specific tax-impact estimates; the alliance estimated the levy would cost the owner of an average-assessed $150,000 home about $6 per year (about $12 for a $300,000 home) but said final figures would depend on assessor calculations. The alliance also pledged to coordinate with county legal staff on ballot language and to refine the levy proposal before a formal request to place it on a ballot.
Commissioners did not vote on placing the measure on the ballot on Oct. 15; they asked staff to continue working with the alliance and return with clarified levy language, up-to-date assessor estimates and a report on how the new levy would interact with existing levies.
The commission’s next formal step, if it chooses to advance the proposal, would be to request ballot language and certify the levy for the May primary; no timeline for that action was set during the meeting.
