‘Keep plucking away’ on county budget
Board examines alternative funding sources
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MARSHALL -- Lyon County's 2027 levy was a topic of discussion again at this week's commissioner meeting.
On Tuesday, commissioners went over possible ways to help reduce the preliminary levy, and other possible funding sources for some county costs.
In the end, there were still some unknowns, including how to handle appropriations for nonprofits like libraries and A.C.E. of Southwest Minnesota, which provides services for senior citizens.
"I can't go forward until I know what direction the board is looking at for appropriations, and for how we're going to do debt service," Lyon County Administrator Loren Stomberg told commissioners.
County representatives will be meeting with the Marshall-Lyon County Library and A.C.E. this week, said Commissioner Todd Draper.
Commissioners have continued budget talks over the course of this summer, after Stomberg warned that the county could be facing factors like increased human services, wages and insurance costs for 2027.
In July, Stomberg said the county could potentially see a 12% to 15% increase on its preliminary levy to deal with increased costs. Other possible options could include changing budget appropriations to nonprofits or buying down debt.
In response, commissioners said they wanted to try and get a preliminary levy increase under 10%.
At Tuesday's County Board meeting, Stomberg said county staff were looking for direction on possibly using county reserve funds to pay off debt service. One scenario he shared would use $650,000 from the county general fund balance for debt service in 2027. That scenario had a 10.1% levy increase – but that amount didn't include appropriations, Stomberg said..
In discussion, commissioners liked the idea of paying off some of the county's debt service next year, but not all of it at once.
"My concern is if we burn through our general fund balance to pay off a bunch, it sure looks good this year, but we don't know what's coming," said Commissioner Paul Graupmann.
In the discussion of the 2027 budget and appropriations, commissioners also asked about using difference sources to cover some county costs. Commissioner Todd Draper asked if county riparian aid dollars could be used for county departments.
"We talked about that, and we can use that to do some wages for the Soil and Water (Conservation District staff)," said Commissioner Gary Crowley.
Commissioners also asked if wind and solar production tax dollars the county receives could be used for one-time funding in some areas.
"The way it sets up now, the county policy is that money is being used for improvements, not only in the parks but within the county. So the board can, at any time, change that by a vote majority," Draper said. "But right now we're using it to pay off improvements in which, we've got two Legacy projects that we've got to pay 10% on."
Commissioners said they would have more information on the situation with library and A.C.E. later this week.
"Let's keep plucking away at it," Draper said.
The county will need to set a preliminary levy for 2027 in September. From there, commissioners will have until the end of the year to finalize a budget and levy.