Residential property valuations on the rise in the county

By Brooks Taylor, Mt. Pleasant News

Residential property valuations are on the upswing in Henry County.

That was County Assessor Gary Dustman?s message Thursday to county supervisors during the monthly department head meeting.

?Residential property is up approximately 10 percent,? Dustman said, ?but the increase depends on location. That doesn?t mean, though, taxes are going to rise by 10 percent.?

He said the amount of tax increase on residential taxation would be significantly impacted by the residential property tax rollback, which was announced in December. This year?s rollback is approximately 56 percent; meaning residential property is taxed at 56 percent of its assessed valuation.

?It (tax increase) depends on what other county assessors do (regarding residential valuations) and the rollback,? he continued. ?I anticipate about a 3-percent increase in taxation.?

Joe Buffington, county director of planning and zoning, said permits for new houses ?are starting to take off.? Thus far, four permits have been granted in 2017, compared with five at this time in 2016.

Buffington said there would be public hearings soon on the county?s comprehensive plan. ?We?re going to have hearings to account for Mt. Union. There will be proposed changes in zoning for Mt. Union (since it is no longer a municipality but part of the county?s unincorporated area). Most of the zoning in Mt. Union now is A-1, which really doesn?t apply.?

County law enforcement personnel will be attending crisis intervention training, County Sheriff Rich McNamee said. The program trains law enforcement personnel on how to interact with individuals with mental issues. McNamee said he recently attended a training session in Johnson County and will be sending his deputies and jail staff, starting in May, to training sessions.

The sheriff also has three vacancies in his department ? a deputy, dispatcher and jailer. Applications for the latter two positions will be accepted through April 14. He will begin interviewing deputy sheriff candidates this week.

More reserve deputies also are needed, he said. Currently, the county has nine reserves and is authorized to have 15.

Jail population continues to increase, McNamee said. On Thursday, there were 34 inmates and the census has been averaging 30 per day since March 1. McNamee also said that vehicle and home burglaries continue to spike in the county. Once again, he advised residents to keep their vehicle and house doors locked and valuables out of site. ?The biggest deterrent (to burglary) is locked doors.?

John Pullis, county conservation director, said county campgrounds will open April 14 and the Oakland Mills Nature Center will open its doors April 22. The new online camping reservation system, Pullis said, is working well. ?We already have taken in nearly $6,000 in online reservations.?

County Auditor Shelly Barber said her office is receiving numerous calls from Mt. Union. ?Residents just don?t know the process of unincorporation,? she remarked. She hopes some of the questions will be answered Wednesday, April 12, when she and the supervisors host a public meeting at the Mt. Union United Methodist Church, beginning at 6:30 p.m.

The other news tidbit came from Ana Lair, county treasurer. She said that this year?s property tax sale would be conducted online instead of in the courtroom at the courthouse. ?Thirty other counties are doing it this way,? Lair said. ?There is not a good reason not to do it this way.?

Supervisors approved load limits of 18 tons on three county dirt roads. The roads are: 180th Street between Graham and Franklin avenues, 215th Street and 270th Street. The limits are effective immediately and signage will be posted soon. County Engineer Jake Hotchkiss said that the load limits should not be an issue because most of the roads are mud now and won?t be traveled.

A contract for Iowa Bridge and Culvert of Washington to install two box culverts on Nebraska Avenue was approved. The firm was the low bidder on the project at $169,430.20. The engineer?s estimate was $194,888.75.

The board meets again Tuesday, April 11, at 9 a.m., in the courthouse.