County votes to hold line on taxes

Although still far from agreeing on a 2026 budget, commissioners decided Monday they will limit spending and adopt a revenue-neutral budget.

County administrator Tina Spencer handed out budget charts she had created from the current and prior years.

Spencer told commissioners that the county clerk needed to be notified by Monday if the county wanted to exceed the revenue-neutral rate.

“There’s always time to pull back from that later,” Spencer said.

But the commissioner decided to lock in at no more than the same tax revenue as last year.

That means a tax rate of no more than 69.842 mills compared to a current tax rate of 72.907 mills.

Commissioners originally were divided, with Kent Becker and Clarke Dirks saying they wanted to keep the budget revenue neutral and Jonah Gehring saying that prices always go up.

The vote, when taken, was unanimous to remain revenue neutral.

They will continue on specifics of the 2026 budget.

When a final budget is ready for presentation to the public, commissioners will conduct a budget hearing Sept. 15.

So far, the city of Marion has announced it will notify the county clerk that it plans to exceed its revenue-neutral tax rate. Council members there still are working on the budget.