Jasper County staff identify $1.66M shortfall at proposed millage; council to weigh cuts or higher rate

County finance staff presented multiple millage and budget scenarios to the council and said the proposed budget, using a 143 mill rate, currently shows a deficit of $1,664,364. The presenter (identified in the workshop as Miss Burgess) walked council through alternative scenarios that shift mills for a rural fire district and showed how those choices affect required revenue and local rates.

Miss Burgess said one scenario that would take 12 mills from the county roll and move them to a Jasper County rural fire district increases the budget shortfall substantially — in the memo that scenario produced a deficit of about $5.9 million. By contrast, staff highlighted a scenario (scenario three) that would nearly balance the budget with a slightly different mill rate and left a relatively small funding gap that council could address.

Using department and elected‑official requests as submitted, staff estimated the county would need about 147.35 mills to fund all requests without cuts. Alternatively, generating the same total property tax revenue as last year would require a mill rate of roughly 121.2, which staff said would necessitate roughly $10 million in spending reductions from the current requests.

Council members questioned several large percentage changes in department lines — notably a 704% change in emergency services and a 372% change in building/planning — and staff explained those figures largely reflected reallocated personnel costs and the addition of new positions. Council members pressed staff for more granular accounting on EMS versus fire costs and on how Cherry Point and other municipal areas are affected by a rural fire district shift.

Some council members emphasized reluctance to raise millage if rising property values already boost revenue, while others signaled willingness to consider a mix of modest mill increases and expenditure reductions. Members asked staff to schedule multiple work sessions before the June 30 budget deadline to set a target millage, identify cuts, and reconcile department requests with the county’s revenue expectations.

Miss Burgess also reviewed nonproperty revenue assumptions, noting the local option sales tax credit reduced taxable totals substantially in the presented calculations. Staff said they would share the worksheet details and convene follow‑up workshops to let councilors choose a revenue target and then pare department requests to meet that target.

The council ended the workshop portion and called the formal meeting to order for the evening’s agenda; the clerk read the county’s FOIA compliance statement at the start of the meeting.