The Grundy County Commission set the county’s property tax levy and made amendments to the Fiscal Year 2020 budget Tuesday, August 18th. The tax rate for 2020 was set at .2165 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. That is an increase of one point five-six cents from 2019. Grundy County’s assessed valuation for 2020 is estimated to be $130,067,962. That is a decrease of $2,531,840 from the previous year. The total assessed valuation includes real estate, personal property, and railroad and utility.
The budget was amended for revenue and expenditures. Changes made included $22,472 for the election services fund, $38,486 for Grundy County Ambulance through Federal Relief Payments to Ambulance Services, and $1,115,620 for CARES Act funding. All of the funds are directly related to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Powered Air Purifying Respirators have been ordered for ambulance personnel. The units will allow personnel to perform duties in particulate environments, such as those related to COVID-19.
Haug Communications of Saint Joseph notified the Federal Communications Commission it has completed the build-out of the mobile radio extenders used in ambulances.
Grundy County Emergency Management Director Glen Briggs reported emergency preparedness exercises are being planned. The exercises are held annually to test operations and maintain compliance with Emergency Management Performance Grant requirements. The deadline has been extended until June 2021 for fiscal year 2020 exercises due to the pandemic.
The bridge crew is spraying and removing brush at bridge sites in Grundy County. Work will continue at the Sandhill Bridge near the junction of Northeast 110th Avenue and Northeast 10th Street and the Barry Bridge on Northeast 82nd Street. The Federal Emergency Management Agency considers the Sandhill and Barry bridges “large projects,” with expenditures exceeding $125,000 per site.
