The Mower County board unanimously approved its 2016 levy at $19.25 million — or an increase at about 3.4 percent or $635,700 — on Tuesday.

A driving factor is new positions, including an assistant county attorney, an environmental technician, a human resource technician, a finance worker, a child and family social worker, and a part-time jailer.

“In general most of the employee requests are due to work load or due to downward shifts from the state of Minnesota,” County Coordinator Oscarson said earlier this month.

Legislative and MNsure changes drove the need for new employees in Mower County Health and Human Services, and Oscarson noted the county’s high crime and poverty rates also drive the need for services.

“When you look at our budget, the changes are basically due to the service levels that we have to answer to,” Oscarson said at a prior meeting.

However, one part of the budget is not moving ahead just yet. The board will seek more information from staff on a proposal to add Pictometry technology, which is a mapping for the assessor, auditor-treasurer, recorder, zoning and sheriff’s offices.

The $192,180 for the service is expected to be funded entirely through the Land Records Fund, which comes from fees for recording documents and not property taxes. However, Commissioner Jerry Reinartz, a retired appraiser, questioned whether the new technology would truly be needed. While he sees it as another tool for staff to use, he said it wouldn’t take away from the need to go out in the field and assess, and he questioned whether there are other things it could be used for.

Local levies almost set

On Monday, Austin Public Schools set its levy at roughly $6.7 million — 1.57 percent decrease. The Austin City Council is set to approve its levy at $4.9 million, an increase of $575,000 during its 5:30 p.m. Dec. 21 meeting in City Hall. While the overall increase is about 13.3 percent, much of that increase will be covered by changes to the expiration of a tax increment finance district from the Holiday Inn area along with new commercial and residential properties. City staff has said a 6 to 7 percent increase is what will actually show up on tax bills next year.

Like the county, staff is driving the city’s increases, as the city hires a new police officer, a new detective, a Jay C. Hormel Nature Center employee and a new parks and recreation department worker.

On a tax bill for city of Austin residents, city of Austin Director of Administrative Services Tom Dankert said about 35 percent of taxes go to the city, about 37 percent go to the county, about 25 percent go to Austin Public Schools, and about 3 percent goes to the Housing and Redevelopment Authority, the Cedar River Watershed District.