County Commission Sets 2020 Tax Levy, Approves Budget Amendments

The Grundy County Commission set the 2020 tax levy during its meeting Tuesday morning, which also included approval of budget amendments.
The levy was set at $.2165 on the $100 assessed valuation, an increase from $.2009 cents in 2019. The county’s tax rate ceiling is $.3965, but with the sales tax rollback, the levy was reduced to $.2165. Grundy County Clerk Betty Spickard said the county’s 2020 assessment is $130,067,962, which is down from $132,599,802 in 2019. The levy is estimated to generate $291,728.66 in property tax.
According to information provided by Presiding Commissioner Phil Ray, several amendments were made to the FY2020 county budget, with all of the changes being necessary due to funding related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The amendments included $22,472 for the election services fund, $38,486 for the Grundy County Ambulance, with those funds coming through Federal Relief payments to ambulance services, and $1,155,620 for CARES Act funding areceived by the county for disbursement.
It was reported the bridge crew is spraying and removing brush at bridge sites around the county and will continue work on the Sand Hill Bridge, located near the junction of NE 110th Avenue and NE 10th Street, and the Berry Bridge, located on NE 82nd Street. Both sites are considered “large projects” by the Federal Emergency Manage-ment Agency with expenditures exceeding $125,000 per site.
Ray said powered air purifying respirators (PAPRs) have been ordered for ambulance personnel. The units will allow ambulance personnel to perform their job duties in particulate environments such as COVID-19.
It was noted there have now been 30 positive COVID cases in Grundy County, with one case currently active. The state is reporting over 1,000 new cases each day and it is expected that Missouri will surpass 7,000 cases this week.
Ray said Haug Communications of St. Joseph has notified the FCC they have completed the buildout of the mobile radio extenders used in ambulances. In addition, planning is under way for emergency preparedness exercises. The exercises are held annually in order to test operations for local agencies as well as to maintain compliance with EMPG requirements. The deadlines for the exercises for FY20 have been extended until June 2021 due to the ongoing pandemic.
The agenda for the Tuesday, Aug. 25 meeting includes a road and bridge report at 8:30 a.m., with the emergency management report scheduled for 9 a.m. The ambulance report is set for 10 a.m., followed by a report from the Grundy County Health Department at 11 a.m.