Cass County Auditor Dale Sunderman said Tuesday (today), Gronewald, Bell, Kyhnn & Co. P.C. CPAs have released an audit report on Cass County, Iowa for fiscal year ended June 30, 2020. The report shows the County had local tax revenue of $33,556,439 for the year ended June 30, 2020, which included $3,127,334 in tax credits from the state. The County forwarded $24,819,145 of the local tax revenue to the townships, school districts, county hospital, cities and other taxing entities in the County.

The County retained $8,737,294 of the local tax revenue to finance County operations, a .2 percent increase from the prior year. Other revenues included $4,150,486 from the State of Iowa, including indirect federal funding of $124,498, charges for service of $355,933, and $342,253 for the use of money and property.

Expenditures for County operations totaled $12,862,581, a 6.3 percent decrease from the prior year. Expenses included $5,891,070 for roads and transportation, $371,860 for mental health services, $2,940,209 for public safety and legal services, $552,773 for county environment and education, $288,816 for debt service, $202,289 for capital projects, and $1,560,948 for administrative services.

A copy of the audit report is available for review in the office of the Auditor of State and the Cass County Auditor’s office.

Police in Creston say a man residing in the 600 block of N. Birch reported Monday afternoon, that sometime between 11-p.m. Sunday and 2:45-a.m. Monday, someone stole his 2005 Honda Shadow 750cc motorcycle that was parked on the north side of his residence, as well as numerous keys from a vehicle also parked at the residence. The loss was estimated at $4,525.

A public hearing will be held Wednesday evening in Atlantic, with regard to the 2021-22 Atlantic Public School District Certified Budget. The meeting will be held in the High School Media Center and via YouTube, beginning at 5-p.m. According to Atlantic School District Superintendent Steve Barber,s the tax levy is $13.95 per thousand dollars of valuation, which is lower than the previous year of $14.22/$1,000 per one thousand dollars of valuation, with property valuations increasing 2.5-percent.

The Board will act on a Resolution “Levying a tax for Fiscal Year 2021-22 for the future optional redemption of General Obligation School Bonds, Series 2019.” Barber says because they didn’t dip into the cash reserves needed a few years ago and used some of the dollars to help pay on a bond, the district was given some flexibility on how much they pay for the bond. The district has also paid ahead on the ten-year obligation bond. The various scenarios the district looked at could potentially save the district $120,000 to $250,000.

The Board will act on approving the Certified Budget and setting Paraprofessional Day as April 7^th, 2021.