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Commissioners warn judgment levy or tax increase possible without fee changes
Summary
Board members warned that declining to adopt administrative fees could leave the county to pursue a judgment levy or a tax increase to cover deficits; they discussed timing constraints for levies and tax notices.
At several points in the discussion commissioners warned that if they did not correct fund imbalances through administrative fees, the county could face a judgment levy or would need to increase taxes. "So if we don't approve this, then we do have to do a judgment levy or raise tax," one member (speaker 5) said.
Members discussed mechanics and timing. A speaker noted a $90,000 judgment previously repaid from the general fund would not in itself solve larger fund deficits; commissioners said a judgment levy has different distributional effects and would not fully alleviate general-fund shortfalls. Chair and other commissioners outlined deadlines: a judgment levy or related tax action would have to be completed by June or at the latest by July 1 to affect the tax calendar; incremental tax increases could be implemented later in September, depending on notification timing to the tax commission and the auditor's schedule.
Commissioners signaled they favored a combination of measures — establishing a fee methodology now and considering incremental tax adjustments later — to minimize sudden taxpayer shock while restoring fund self-sufficiency.
