Tagged: Board of Supervisors

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office is ready to provide additional coverage to Montrose on a temporary basis.

The Lee County Board of Supervisors has signed off on a 28E agreement between the county, sheriff’s office and the city for law enforcement services.

The deal runs from March 14, 2012 to March 13, 2013.

Montrose has been without a police chief since Karl Judd resigned to join the Fort Madison Police Department.  The city’s two reserve officers also resigned around the same time as Judd.

Sheriff Jim Sholl says this one-year agreement is not meant to be permanent.  He says it is designed to give Montrose enough time to hire a police chief or enter a more formal contract with the sheriff’s office.

Some residents of the Argyle Sanitation District will be receiving a bill for past due sewer services.

The county says 22 properties are behind in their payments to Regional Utility Service Systems (RUSS).

The Mount Pleasant-based organization owns and operates Argyle’s sanitary sewer system.

Lee County has been covering the late fees for months, which has prompted the Board of Supervisors to approve the mailing of bills to delinquent customers.

The supervisors have that authority because they are also serving as the trustees for the sewer district.

Board Chairperson Janet Fife-LaFrenz says this step is necessary if the county is going to get its money back because a lien could be placed on their properties for refusal to pay.

Lee County must wait a little longer to put its proposed budget for next year on display.

The Board of Supervisors was ready to set a public hearing on the roughly $26-million spending for Tuesday, Feb. 21.

That plan changed, though, after the county received an email from the state that said its proposed property tax rate must be changed.

CPC Administrator Ryanne Wood says Lee County brings in tax revenue to help pay for day-to-day services for those with mental health or other developmental disabilities.

She says the state also sends the county money to help pay for the services in an effort to hold down the property tax rate.

Wood says the state informed the county that due to a deficit, the MHDD levy must be increased by about $100,000.

Des Moines County’s proposed budget for next year requires another round of cuts.

Chairman Tom Broeker says the Board of Supervisors requested departmental budgets that covered needs but did not include frivolous spending.

He says that is what the panel received, but cuts were still needed.

The Board of Supervisors trimmed the initial departmental requests by more than $500,000.

That includes about $400,000 in the maintenance department and about $110,000 in conservation.

Broeker says that was not enough, which is why the supervisors have called for an across-the-board cut of 4%.

“The department heads and elected officials will go through there and take the money out of whatever line items they wish,” says Broeker.

Lee County is projecting a slight decrease in its upcoming property tax rate.

The Board of Supervisors has spent the last few weeks putting together the county’s spending plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

The latest draft shows a $0.13 decrease in the rural property tax rate, from $11.03 to $10.90.

There would be an even larger cut to the urban tax rate from $9.00 to $8.62.

This would mark the second Lee County budget in a row to feature a reduction in both property tax rates.

Chairperson Janet Fife-LaFrenz says that process was helped by the fact that the board requested bare-bone budgets from each department.