Madison County adopts FY27 budget; two appropriations voted separately after conflict disclosures

The Madison County Board of Supervisors approved the county’s fiscal-year 2027 budget, resolution 2026-8, at a regular meeting after removing and separately voting on two appropriations tied to board members’ outside affiliations.

Staff presented the budget and supplemental materials, including a written budget summary prepared with finance staff. Supervisor Jwitt, who summarized the document, said the county’s real-estate tax rate for the year will be 53 cents per $100 of assessed value and contrasted that with an approximate 30% rise in consumer prices since FY21. “If the property taxes in this county had risen in tandem with inflation, our current tax rate would be 63 cents per 100. So we’re actually 10 cents below what it would be,” Jwitt said.

The board debated and then separated two line items before taking final action: one appropriation listed at $53,350 for Skyline Cap, Inc., and an appropriation for the Co Pepper Soil and Water Conservation district (amount recorded in the packet as 33,75852/3375852 in the transcript). A board member identified themself in the meeting as Skyline Cap’s chief financial officer and asked to abstain from that vote; another supervisor said they would recuse themselves from the Co Pepper item because a family member serves on that district’s board. The transcript does not record a complete roll-call tally for the separate votes; both appropriation items were approved by voice vote and the remainder of the budget was then adopted.

Budget highlights discussed at the meeting included adding a court security officer position at the sheriff’s request to avoid pulling school resource officers from schools, and approving an additional EMS paramedicine full‑time equivalent (FTE) after a two‑year pilot. According to the transcript, the pilot had about 15 active applications and has “served well more than that,” with staff saying it reduced ambulance calls among older residents and improved connections to county and nonprofit services. Staff said grant funding is likely to offset part of the first-year cost for the paramedicine position and that the county plans to pursue legislative changes to billing rules to help sustain EMS operations.

The board credited county finance staff for identifying savings and one‑time revenue opportunities that helped limit tax increases. After the separate votes on the two contested appropriations, the board approved resolution 2026-8 by voice vote. Staff said the final budget file will note the two items were removed and voted on separately as directed by legal counsel.

What’s next: Staff will publish the approved budget documents and include notation of the separated votes; supervisors signaled continued interest in economic development to expand the tax base and in pursuing grants and legislative changes to support EMS services.