Winneshiek County supervisors on Monday approved a 2017-2018 county budget after holding a public hearing at which only two people appeared.
The budget includes a total of $26,748,082 in spending next fiscal year--an increase of $2,136,373 from this year's budget, or an 8.7 percent increase.
Much of that increase comes from $3,770,000 in planned capital improvement projects--an increase of $1,930,500 from this year's capital improvement budget. However, federal, state and other outside sources of funding are expected to go up to $11.4 million--a $3.5 million increase over this year. Some of that money--roughly $1.75 million--comes from FEMA funds to pay for flooding costs.
Under the new budget, the county would levy $9,493,250 in property taxes. That's $285,669 in additional property taxes over this year's total of $9,207,581 in property taxes.
There's been a 15 percent increase in residential property valuations in Winneshiek County this year. The budget sets the property tax levy rate at $6.39 for every $1,000 of assessed valuation for city residents and $8.34 for every $1,000 of assessed valuation for rural residents.