Photo by Jill Schramm Ward County commissioners hold a budget hearing Wednesday. From left are John Fjeldahl, Jim Rostad, Shelly Weppler, Alan Walter and John Pietsch.

The tax on a $200,000 home would go down about $97 under a 2020 budget preliminarily adopted by the Ward County Commission following a public hearing Wednesday.

Budget numbers presented Wednesday will be reduced slightly to reflect a couple of adjustments made during the meeting, and the commission could still make additional changes before the document must be finalized in October.

At the start of the meeting, County Auditor Devra Smestad reported budget requests are up about $4.5 million but the mill levy is down 10.77 mills because of cash on hand of nearly $12.7 million, which is $4.1 million more than last year. Other income is expected to be up $3.95 million. This results in a decline in the need for tax dollars by $3.57 million.

On an average quarter of land, the tax decrease is about $67 and on a $200,000 home about $97.

Smestad said the rise in cash carryover is due to a variety of savings in different areas. Among the most notable is a decrease from anticipated spending at the jail and a reduction in the cost of employee health insurance due to a switch to a new plan.

Commissioner Alan Walter raised concern about lowering the budget significantly based on unusual cash carryover and unexpected revenue. If the cash carryover shrinks notably in 2020, taxes will have to go up significantly to maintain expenses at the current level, he said.

“We are going to have to $7 million to catch up, just to stay even with this budget,” he said.

Walter also took issue with a previous vote by the commission when he was absent, related to the amount of catch-up pay approved for certain employees whose pay appeared behind their cohorts in a market survey. The commission set any single pay increase at no more than $5,000 plus the 1.5% cost of living. But in addition, if that amount is inadequate to bring an employee up to market pay, the difference necessary to reach market would be paid out half in 2020, with an intent to provide the other half in 2021.

Walter said that second half in 2021 won’t materialize if the commission is faced with a tax increase of $7 million just to hold even.

Smestad reported 27 employees are affected by the market pay issue. The dollar amount that would be required in 2021 is about $200,000, or less than a mill, she said.

“I still think we need to be more fiscally responsible,” Walter said. He moved for the commission to limit salary increases to $5,000 plus 1.5% until a professional, independent salary study is done next year.

Commissioner John Fjeldahl was successful in amending the motion to keep a $200,000 levy in the budget and set it aside in a budget stabilization fund.

“If we need to adjust something, it’s available, but it’s not set aside for salaries necessarily,” he said. “If we start that stabilization fund, and we see benefits from cost cutting throughout the year and savings in some of our programs, it’s a good place to put it, in a sense saving the taxpayers money if you balance this out.”

The commission took other action that will affect the tax levy by cutting the amount previously proposed to be levied for weather modification. The county had levied $73,445 for 2019. The commission had proposed levying $149,500 this year. However, the commission also called for an election next June to determine whether the county should stay in the program.

If voters reject participation, the commission’s intent is to have the program end July 1. The current county authorization for weather modification expires at the end of next March, though, so without reauthorization, the program already would have ended. Commissioners determined the weather modification authority should be able to operate on the $24,500 it has on hand and a $31,000 levy, or $55,500, to get to July.

If voters approve continued participation, the commission has $250,000 in a contingency fund from which it intends to draw to support weather modification efforts for the 2020 season. Active cloud seeding occurs between June 1 and Aug. 31.

The commission voted 3-2 to set the weather modification levy at $31,000. Voting against lowering the amount were John Pietsch and Shelly Weppler. Weppler voiced a concern that having money in a contingency fund is no guarantee that the commission will appropriate it if weather modification continues after the June election.

“I don’t feel that we are fiscally responsible not to put in at least another $100,000 for them to operate and if it doesn’t pass (in June), it doesn’t get spent,” Weppler said. “I feel the amount we are putting in there is not enough.”

The commission also made adjustments to funding for historical societies to stay within the .25 mill limit set in state law. The change will have a minor effect on the overall levy.

No public comment was received related to the budget at the hearing.

The commission unanimously approved the budget as numbers stood at the end of the meeting.