The maximum possible property tax rate that Webster County landowners would pay to their county government was introduced during a public hearing Tuesday morning.

All property owners would pay a rate of $6.53 per $1,000 of taxable value.

Those property owners outside the incorporated cities would pay an additional $3.67 per $1,000 of taxable value. Most of the revenue generated by that levy is used to pay for operating the county’s engineering department.

The $6.53 and $3.67 figures represent the most that the county government could levy for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

“We do anticipate being able to lower this,” Supervisor Mark Campbell said.

“This is not final,” Supervisor Niki Conrad added.

The current levy rate paid by all landowners is $6.46 per $1,000 of taxable value.

The additional levy paid by rural residents is now $3.79 per $1,000 of taxable value.

The proposed budget for 2024-2025 includes $400,000 for housing jail inmates in other counties when the Webster County Jail is full. The jail population is a “huge part of the problem in trying to manage this budget,” Supervisor Bob Thode said.

A roughly $45 million bond issue that would have paid for building a new, larger jail was narrowly defeated by the voters in a November 2023 referendum.

Two people addressed the Board of Supervisors during the hearing Tuesday morning. Both of them were against the proposed property tax levies.

One of them, Bruce Diehl, who lives on Quaill Avenue, was openly suspicious of the supervisors’ promise to lower the levy rate before approving the proposed budget.

“I’ll believe that when I see it,” he said.

The Board of Supervisors will consider approving the 2024-2025 budget when it meets at 10 a.m. April 23 in the Webster County Courthouse.