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Mills County supervisors adopt FY27 budget despite objections over shortfall
Summary
The Mills County Board of Supervisors adopted a proposed FY27 budget that projects $28.3 million in expenditures and passed on a 2–1 roll call after residents and at least one supervisor said the plan was not balanced and urged deeper cuts and use of LOST funds to reduce property taxes and debt.
The Mills County Board of Supervisors voted 2–1 to adopt Resolution 2614 certifying the proposed fiscal year 2027 budget after a public hearing and brief discussion.
A public commenter told the board she was "not in favor of the proposed budget for a number of reasons," saying the proposal projects about $1.5 million more in spending than projected revenue and noted the budgeted $28.3 million is roughly $3 million higher than the most recent actual of about $25 million. The commenter urged a 10% reduction across expenditures that, in her estimate, would bring spending closer to $26 million and put roughly $300,000 into reserves rather than drawing $1.5 million from them.
County staff responded that the apparent shortfall reflects an intentional plan to spend down some excess funds and to budget for worst-case scenarios. "We usually spend about 80 to 85% of our budget that's proposed; we usually don't spend it all," a county staff member said, adding that certain lines account for benefits, FICA and other obligations and that intergovernmental transfers reflect the allocation of local-option sales tax (LOST) set by the ballot.
The LOST ballot language cited by staff and discussed during the hearing directs that proceeds be split 40% for property tax relief, 40% for betterment (road/engineering work) and 20% for infrastructure; the staffer said those distributions appear under intergovernmental transfers in the proposed budget.
Board discussion included appreciation for department heads' work during a lengthy budget season and concern from one supervisor about Mills County's high tax rate relative to other Iowa counties; that supervisor indicated an intent to vote against the resolution. On roll call the measure passed 2–1.
The board closed the public hearing before taking the vote. No formal amendments to the budget were recorded during the meeting. The resolution will stand as the board's adopted FY27 budget certification unless subsequently revisited under county rules.
