The Hamilton County Board of Supervisors will host a public hearing tonight for the purpose of discussing and passing the county’s fiscal year 2026 budget.

The meeting begins at 6 p.m. in the basement conference room of the Hamilton County Courthouse, 2300 Superior Street, Webster City.

“The urban levy that was published is at 6.39798 compared to last year’s levy of 6.49631,” Hamilton County Auditor Kim Schaa said Monday. “The rural levy that was published is 10.23293 compared to 10.44631 last year.”

This is a reduction from last year.

She added, “I believe the board plans to discuss the areas they have worked on to make reductions to the budget.”

This year’s budget levy process has been a challenge. Early in the process, Iowans received taxpayer-funded mailings that created more confusion than clarity, leading taxpayers to panic during open meetings.

Specifically, the levy sheets that were published early in the process showed rates that were unrealistically high because under the state’s rule an entity could lower a levy during the protracted process, but it could not raise the levy.

The result was that many entities set their levy rates high to cover their bases, knowing they would lower them once the actual budget work was complete.

The Supervisors are hosting the evening meeting in response to distressed taxpayers who have said they cannot attend the usual 9 a.m. board meeting time because it conflicts with their jobs.

This meeting can be audio streamed live by going to the county’s web page: www.hamiltoncounty.iowa.gov.

Under “Departments,” go to “Board of Supervisors” and then to “Listen Live to Meeting.”