County budget reflects 20-cent property tax levy increase

By BRYCE KELLY

Mt. Pleasant News

With no written or vocal comment from the public, the Henry County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to approve the Henry County 2015 fiscal year budget which included a 20-cent higher property tax levy than the current year?s budget, which totals to $11.89 per $1,000 of taxable valuation for rural areas and $7.94 per $1,000 of taxable valuation for urban areas.

In total, the county expenditures are valued at slightly over $17,000,000. Total revenues for the county are $13,642,560, which is down from the actual total revenue of the 2013/2014 fiscal year at $14,293,201.

In Henry County alone, roughly 54 percent of Henry County?s revenue is generated from property taxes.

Other major budget items included:

? The budget for public safety and legal services for the county totaled out at $3,348,866, which is relatively unchanged from the 2013/2014 fiscal year?s budget, which totaled at $3,126,645.

? Physical health and social services took $936,600 of the budget. This is more than last year?s budget, which totaled a little over $819,000.

? With many of the changes coming in the world of mental health for Henry County, officials had to do some major revamping of the mental health, intellectual disability and developmental disabilities budget. In total, the budget for mental, intellectual and developmental disability services for the county came out at $2,246,892. Last fiscal year, the budget was roughly set at a little over $440,000. A major component of this increase, according to the county supervisors, is the change in needs and services for those diagnosed with mental illness. For mental illness alone, the county had to budget $1,286,000 for mental health treatment services, which is up dramatically from last fiscal year?s amount of $68,128.

? Roads and transportation received $4,495,140 for use in the 2015 fiscal year, while county environment and education received $1,049,629. The county environment and education fund decreased this fiscal year by $4,183.

?The budget for government services to residents also saw a slight increase in its budget, rounding out at $668,106.

Overall, Henry County Supervisors say they are happy with the 2015 fiscal year budget, which officially begins on July 1, 2015 and runs until June 30, 2016.

For more information regarding the Henry County budget, contact the Henry County Auditor?s office at 319-385-0756.

Besides county budget, the Henry County Supervisors approved liquor licenses for Mt. Pleasant Moose Lodge #1003 and Deerwood Golf Inc. The board also heard a weekly report from county engineer, Jake Hotchkiss.

It was relatively slow last week for the county engineer?s office, according to Hotchkiss. Besides a holiday break for his staff on Monday, Hotchkiss reported that his crew spent most of last week checking and blading gravel roads, brush cutting, and working on various road signs around the county. Hotchkiss also said he was able to get much accomplished in terms of stripping at the quarry.

?I am continuing to work on projects for the upcoming summer and preparing for bridge and paving project inspections that will be coming up soon,? Hotchkiss said. ?With the cold temperatures we have been having, I will also have crews continue to work on brush cutting throughout the county as well as quarry stripping. The stripping there has been going well and we are making a lot of progress.?

Looking ahead into next week and beyond, Hotchkiss said he is still prepping for a variety of summer projects.

The next Henry County Board of Supervisors meeting will be held on Thursday, Feb. 26 at 9 a.m., inside the Henry County Courthouse.