The Marshall County Commissioners are taking the steps necessary to raise the rate of the Cumulative Bridge Fund. As part of the process a public hearing was held for the proposed rate increase on March 19th.
Following the publication of the notice to increase the rate a 30 day period for a remonstrance was opened. During Monday’s commissioner meeting Marshall County Auditor Julie Fox said she had received a couple of petitions, the first has 10 signatures but some of the names were not able to be certified as property owners. Since then a few more petitions have been submitted and she said there are about 13 names that have been certified so the petition is valid. The remonstrance process for this rate increase only requires 10 property owners.
The Auditor had been in contact with the Department of Local Government Finance who will be scheduling a public hearing here in Marshall County within the next few weeks. While a date has not be set yet, Fox said is should be late April or early May. Representatives from the DLGF will conduct the public hearing which will allow tax payers to comment as well as county government officials. The information gathered will be help the DLGF on the decision making process for the rate increase.
The proposed rate increase for the Cum Bridge Fund is $.0524 per $100 of assessed value up from the $.262 currently in place. The increase will raise an estimated $600,000 annually for bridges. Without the increase the county will be in the red by 2019.
