Since the start of the year, the Hamilton County Board of Supervisors have been meeting with county department heads and other officials as they crunched numbers for the Fiscal Year 2027 County Budget that starts on July First. Hamilton County residents will learn about what the budget year will bring when a public hearing for the budget will be held on Wednesday, April 29th at 6:00 p.m. in the downstairs conference room of the courthouse. The hearing will be audio streamed on the Hamilton County website at www.hamiltoncounty.iowa.gov. The announcement of the hearing date was made public during the Hamilton County Supervisors meeting.
The recipients of the Hamilton County Hotel Motel Tax awards were announced by the supervisors. They include the City of Ellsworth for $10,000 for a pickleball court in the community. Hamilton County Growth Partnership for $10,000 for the Hometown Pride Program. Hamilton County Conservation Board will receive $4000 for a sign project Legacy Learning will receive $1000 for an unnamed project. The Hamilton County Hotel Motel Tax is funded through a grant program that supports tourism-related projects in rural areas.
The supervisors met with Ottie Maxey of Hamilton County Growth Partnership with an update on the Hometown Pride program. Maxey informed that the city councils in Kamrar and Williams are the last two communities to sign on for their support in long-term community vitality, leadership development and quality of life enhancements in Hamilton County. All nine communities and the Hamilton County Board of Supervisors collectively secured $13,000 in annual public funding over a five-year period in support of the Keep Iowa Beautiful Hometown Pride Program application. The deadline for all applications is May 15th. Hamilton County will find out this June by Keep Iowa Beautiful on whether or not they will receive the Hometown Pride honor.
In other matters on Tuesday morning, the Hamilton County Supervisors appointed Bill Greenley of Webster City to succeed Kolleen Taylor on the Wilson Brewer Park Board. Adam Peterson was named to serve on the Hamilton County Civil Service Commission.
A rumble strip project for Delphi Street and Hamilton County Road R-61 was approved by the board with the cost of the installation at $3500. The city of Ellsworth and Hamilton County will split the costs on the installation for the rumble strips. This is to alert inattentive drivers of an approaching stop sign on county roads and highways. A retail tobacco license for the soon-to-be-open TA Truck Stop near Williams was approved Tuesday morning.