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County staff: state tax changes will cut property-tax revenue despite higher millage
Summary
Prairie County staff presented the proposed 2026 budget and warned that new state tax rules — a taxable-value multiplier shift from 1.35 to 0.76 — will lower property-tax revenue per mill even if the county raises millage, prompting commissioners to weigh reserves, insurance costs and hiring outside legal counsel. The commission set a final vote for next week and adjourned.
Prairie County staff presented a preliminary 2026 budget and told commissioners that recent state tax changes will reduce the county’s property-tax revenue even if the county raises its millage.
The staff member presenting the budget said the state’s new calculation reduces the taxable-value multiplier “from 1.35 to 0.76,” and warned that “a decrease in property tax will occur.” The presenter outlined a general-fund appropriation of $833,415, a capital improvement plan of $170,969 and current debt of about $309,601.20, plus line-item allocations for the sheriff’s office, mosquito district, ambulance and the cemetery.
Why it matters: Commissioners said the change in the multiplier leaves small, rural counties — where market and taxable values can diverge sharply — in a precarious position. One commissioner summarized the local effect: “we went from a market value of 213,000,000 for 2024 to 240,000,000 for '25, but the actual taxable value only went up by $28,000,” a gap the presenters said is driven by the new state multiplier.
Staff said ARPA funding was fully dispersed in 2025 and that remaining LATCF interest earnings will be reinvested into capital projects; the presenter also noted the county transferred roughly $2,992 of operating ARPA funds into the general fund to reimburse salaries. The county’s debt schedule includes a new loan with its first payment due in June 2026 and a remaining payoff of approximately $38,000 on a sheriff’s pickup.
The budget packet includes a list of capital and operating needs: $67,522 was identified for building improvements (including about $10,000 for a server), mosquito district funding of about $9,799.15, public-safety appropriations of approximately $36,713.87, an ambulance allocation of $19,176.55, and a $4,000 allotment for the senior center to replace a failing refrigerator.
On insurance and personnel costs, staff calculated coverage for 25 employees and said county obligations would require roughly $328,200 to fund insurance in 2026, with a base-year county share of about $38,401; commissioners discussed how that obligation and retirement-rate changes factor into the final levy decision.
Commissioners and staff also debated where to place a new line for outside legal services to support anticipated zoning work; options discussed included reallocating contract-service lines or adding a separate legal-services line to the general fund. The presenter suggested examining accounting codes to ensure the expenditure is tracked properly.
Procedural note: staff characterized this meeting as the preliminary hearing and told the board that the budget must be passed next week. A commissioner moved to adjourn and the motion passed on a voice vote; two commissioners explicitly said “aye.”
What’s next: staff will post final worksheets and Department of Revenue assessment pages for commissioner review; the board is scheduled to return next week for the required final action to adopt the budget.
