Audubon County taxpayers press supervisors to pare budgets, question TIF reliance and raises

At a March 25 meeting of the Audubon County Board of Supervisors, several taxpayers pressed elected officials to reduce department budgets and limit spending, citing the county’s reliance on tax increment financing and roughly $30 million in bonded projects over the past six years. Chairman Heath Hansen said the county “probably would not have been able to do several projects without the TIF funding.”

Taxpayers singled out recent projects they described as excessive spending, including cabins at Littlefield and an HVAC project, and urged that each department’s budget be reviewed for cuts. They also questioned the county’s health-insurance costs, noting the county pays more than $530,000 a year toward family coverage, and asked whether new hires or newly elected officials should start at lower pay rates than their predecessors.

Hansen outlined how the Compensation Board produces recommended raises and said supervisors will work to align some salaries with market averages over the next few years; he also said supervisors have opted to take a 0% increase for the coming fiscal year. Auditor Lisa Frederiksen told the board the Compensation Board’s formulas compare salaries but do not factor benefits into the percentage recommendations. The board noted an exception negotiated with the Secondary Roads union of $1 per hour rather than a percentage raise.

The discussion produced no formal policy change at the meeting beyond the supervisors’ self-declared 0% increase and a pledge to examine departmental budgets further; supervisors said they will meet with the Compensation Board earlier in the FY26 cycle so union negotiations can be considered in future recommendations. The board recessed at 12:54 p.m. and reconvened at 3:01 p.m.