The Des Moines County Board of Supervisors now has a better idea of how residents want their tax dollars spent in the upcoming fiscal year.
The county is utilizing a new budgeting method, where departments are funded based on a priority list.
That list will be developed based on input from the supervisors, elected leaders, department heads, and members of the public.
The public input came in the form of a community survey, which was available online and in paper form.
It asked residents to rank nine services on a scale of one to four, with one being not important and four being very important.
Sixty surveys were returned, which Board of Supervisors Chairman Bob Beck says is a good start and very useful.
The top priority for residents was public safety, which received 42 "fours," 9 "threes," 1 "two," and 8 "one."
It was followed by facility maintenance/development and GIS/Information technology.
The lowest service was the Des Moines County Fair, which received 8 "fours," 13 "threes," 19 "twos," and 20 "ones."
The Des Moines County Board of Supervisors are in the midst of their annual budget workshops with department heads and elected leaders.
