Carroll County approves $22,000 amendment to assessor’s FY2027 budget after public hearing

Carroll County officials approved a motion to amend the FY2027 assessor budget to move $22,000 from county reserves into assessment salary expense following a brief public hearing and a block-style roll-call vote. The chair opened the hearing, set a three-minute limit for public comments and described the amendment as a follow-up to the July 14 meeting.

A local resident who identified only by street address urged the board to record significant opposition in the minutes and criticized the timing and process, saying, "Amendments are for unforeseen and unexpected changes, not for something that was preplanned, reorchestrated, and rehearsed." The commenter also said they would file a complaint with IPED and warned that the change would set a precedent for more midseason requests.

Another public commenter, Jeff Andover, said the county has repeatedly delayed salary adjustments for assessors and urged the board to pay competitive wages to avoid turnover: "When you're not keeping pace with the salary of the assessor ... you're gonna keep up with the salary. You're not gonna have anybody." The chair and members noted there are limited licensed assessors in the state, making recruitment difficult, and cited that constraint in support of the amendment.

The motion to approve the amendment was moved by the mayors and seconded by the supervisors. During a roll-call-style vote the chair summarized that a majority of the school board and mayors voted in favor while a majority of supervisors voted no; the chair stated the motion carried. The public hearing was then closed and the board proceeded to a second, related motion on pay policy.