Talking about taxes is almost never a pleasant thing to do and the tensions were a little higher than normal when the Faribault County Board of Commissioners met on Sept. 19 to set their preliminary levy for the next fiscal year.

On a 4-1 vote, with commissioner Tom Loveall voting no, the County Board passed a preliminary levy which calls for a 24.2 percent increase over the previous levy.

The preliminary levy and budget needed to be officially adopted by Sept. 30. Once approved, the proposed levy can be lowered, but it cannot be raised.

“I won’t vote for this, you all set this in motion with some of the decisions you made,” Loveall stated before the vote.

Earlier this summer the board made the decision to authorize a Classification and Compensation study which reviews internal pay equity and external competitiveness with labor market competitors.

The board also moved the coordinator position into a separate position instead of being part of the auditor/treasurer’s job.

The total net levy for the previous year was $13,074,106. The preliminary levy for next year is $16,297,447. The majority of the projected increase appears to be due to preliminary data coming out of the Classification and Compensation study which reflects a substantial increase in workers’ salaries.

The commissioners will begin the process of refining the budget with the goal of lowering the proposed levy when they continue holding budget work sessions in the month of October.