Supervisors narrowly approve bonding for Grundy Road project

Despite the vocal objections of Chairman Jim Ross and his colleague Barb Smith, the Grundy County Board of Supervisors will move forward with a plan to utilize bonds to finance the paving of a five-mile stretch of Grundy Road between D-35 and Highway 20 along the Black Hawk County line after a 3-2 vote during Monday morning’s regular meeting.
           
Mark Schildroth, Chuck Bakker and Harlyn Riekena voted in favor of the proposal, while Smith and Ross voted against it. Paving the road, which is currently gravel, will cost Grundy and Black Hawk Counties around $4 million each.
           
“Small counties don’t typically bond for things like this. Small counties don’t really bond period,” said Smith, who represents the Grundy Center area. “To put this many eggs in one basket, I have trouble wrapping my arms around it.”
           
According to figures provided during the meeting, a resident with a property assessed at about $120,500 (the average valuation in the county) would see an annual tax increase of $36.86 as a result of the bonds and a total $369 over the 10-year repayment period (for commercial properties, the estimate on an average valuation of $165,647 is $820 over 10 years). The numbers are still subject to change due to the statewide commercial property tax rollback and uncertainty surrounding the dollars that have been backfilled at the county and municipal levels.
           
The county received its first tax revenues from the Wellsburg Wind Farm this year—around $500,000—but as Smith noted, the funds essentially only kept the board from raising levy rates. 
 
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