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Woodbury County sets FY27 maximum tax rates for auditor mailing; public hearing set for March 31
Summary
The Woodbury County Board approved FY27 maximum county tax rates and dollar amounts for the required auditor mailing and scheduled a public hearing for March 31 at 4 p.m.; the approval is a procedural 'maximum asking' and does not mean the board will levy that full amount.
The Woodbury County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to set the FY27 maximum county tax rates and dollar amounts for the auditor's required budget mailing and scheduled a related public hearing for March 31 at 4:00 p.m.
The vote, moved and seconded during the budget-review item, was described by county budget official Mister Erickson as a procedural step that establishes the ceiling the county may ask for but does not commit the board to collect that amount. Erickson said, “If you were to go to the max for rural basic, it would be an increase in cash of nearly 2,400,000.”
Auditor staff explained the purpose of the mailer to the board. The auditor said, “The budget mailer shows the city, the school, and the county each in a different section, and it's gonna show the maximum amount of tax dollars and maximum rate that each of those authorities has within their budget.” The mailer also lists the public hearing date and time; the auditor noted the mailing deadlines that county staff must meet.
Nut graf: Setting the maximum for the auditor mailing is a legal, administrative step required by state law; it allows the county to publish the highest levy it could adopt and preserves flexibility to adopt lower rates later. Board members discussed levy-rate options, reserve targets and the effect of the state rollback on taxable values.
In the discussion, Erickson walked members through three scenarios — the max-rate option, leaving rates unchanged from the prior year, and a third exercise showing what would produce a zero budget for rural basic — and answered questions about the county's current cash balances and spending trends. A board member noted that year-to-date spending was below projections, which could affect reserve calculations.
The auditor said the county will publish the mailer and also post explanatory material on the auditor's website and social channels before mailings begin. By unanimous vote, the board approved the FY27 maximum rates for the auditor mailing and set the public hearing for March 31 at 4:00 p.m. The mailer lists the maximum asking only; the board may adopt a lower levy at later budget proceedings.
