The Greene County Board of Supervisors met Monday in regular session.

During reports, County Attorney Thomas Laehn said he will be drafting a 28E agreement with the Bell Tower Community Foundation so that each entity has defined responsibilities and any admissions that are collected have to pass through the county to the foundation, as per recommendation by the State Auditor’s Office. 

County Engineer Wade Weiss talked about upgrades to the downtown sound system in Jefferson. He mentioned a cost estimate of $22,000 and how there could be some cost sharing between the county and the city of Jefferson. No decision was made by the Board following the discussion.

The Board then approved the four finalists for the Jefferson Matters: A Main Street and Chamber Community Ring Out for Art contest and for those to be displayed right before the popular voting time frame, with the winning sculpture to be on display through April 30, 2024. They also reviewed five farm leasing agreements with Weiss about four county gravel pits and one right of way parcel. No action was taken as this was at the recommendation by the State Auditor’s Office.

The Board also approved a resolution to propose selling three parcels of properties to the City of Paton and Joe and Janet Cummings of Jefferson, and scheduled a public hearing for March 13th before finalizing the sale. Finally, the Board finalized its maximum property tax levy for the 2024 fiscal year. Due to the Iowa Legislature correcting a property tax mistake and the governor signing the correction into law, the county’s rates needed to be adjusted. The Board is proposing a $3.63 per $1,000 of valuation for its general fund and $2.39 per $1,000 for general supplemental, which is a 2.25-percent increase. The proposed rural rate is $3.15 and there is an increase of 6.04-percent. The public hearing is scheduled for March 13th.