County approves bookkeeping before new fiscal year

It’s a new year in July for businesses and governments, with Union County being no exception. The start of the next fiscal year brought multiple resolutions to the board of supervisors.

Last Wednesday’s meeting introduced six resolutions, all of which were approved. Four of these resolutions aim ahead toward the next fiscal year which began July 1. These will also be the last resolutions passed for fiscal year 2024-25.

The first, which required a public hearing, issues an amount not to exceed $5 million of general obligation urban renewal stock bonds. These funds will be used to fund urban renewal projects, which could include bridge replacements, road paving or culvert constructing.

Wind turbine revenues paid through TIF will pay for these bonds with no increases in taxes. The measure has been in discussion since April.

“In my eyes, we actually save the taxpayer money by bonding it as opposed to fixing bridges and passing it on through property assessment,” Supervisor Dennis Hopkins said. “I don’t want to do that to the folks out there. It’s hard to understand when you’re borrowing money to say you’re saving money. But, it will save us taxpayers’ money.”

“By doing this, you might say we’re passing these expenses to non-resident taxpayers instead of our local,” Supervisor Dennis Brown said.

This will be the second bond issuance for urban renewal projects. The renewal plan has used $4 million of the $5 million from the first bond issuance and requires additional funding to complete additional capital projects.

The Urban Renewal Plan was adopted to develop areas of Union County for the purpose of commercial and industrial development.

Tackling expenses in the 2024-25 fiscal year, an amendment to the county budget was approved. Prairie Solid Waste Agency will add $575,000 to their appropriations, with a total of $2.5 million. This total was added due to tornado damage expenses and landfill repairs.

Four resolutions tackled Union County’s next fiscal year with routine agreements and budget and salary approvals for the county’s various departments.

The first approved resolution confirms Union County’s participation in the planning and development programs of the Southern Iowa Council Of Governments. Union County joins Adair, Adams, Clarke, Decatur, Madison, Ringgold and Taylor counties in SICOG’s Iowa Planning Area XIV.

A routine resolution approves the interfund secondary roads transfer, which authorizes the county auditor to transfer sums from the general basic fund and the rural services basic fund to the secondary roads fund.

Finally, two resolutions approved the appropriations for county departments and salaries for county employees. Union County’s appropriation totals for the next fiscal year will reach $21,815,887.