Adams County Board approves 2025 budget as Snider steps away from chair

QUINCY — After nearly 22 years on the Adams County Board, Kent Snider presided over his final meeting as the governing body’s chair.

Snider, who has been chairman for six years, was praised by his colleagues as well as Veterans Assistance Commission Superintendent Paul Havermale and former Adams County Board Chairman Mike McLaughlin who all made presentations at Tuesday’s meeting.

“We’ve had a great run here with Kent being our chairman,” Vice Chairman Bret Austin said. “He’s been a great mentor to me and I really appreciate you and the board appreciates you. I think you’ve done a great job of being our chairman, leading us and guiding us and making sure we work for the common good of Adams County.”

Snider was visibly moved by the praise.

“The stuff we do here is not me. It’s all of us,” Snider said. “Thank you.”

Jeremy Farlow ran for and won the District 4 seat Snider held. He will be sworn in along with the other six board members who were elected last week in early December. The full board will also vote for a new chairman and vice-chairman at that meeting.

Before receiving his accolades, Snider gave presentations to Todd Duesterhaus, who was defeated by Tim Siemer on Nov. 5 and to Georgene Zimmerman, who is retiring as the county’s supervisor of assessments at the end of the year after 51 years of service in the office.

The board unanimously passed the 2025 budget as well on Tuesday. The budget has $58 million in 2025 revenue and $63.99 million in expenses. Austin, who serves as the finance chairman, said the county will rollover $5.9 million in reserve revenues to pay for projects currently in the works to balance the budget.

Austin said with an anticipated equalized assessed valuation (EAV) increase of 7 percent on property in the county, the revenue will be able to cover a projected budget increase of 3 to 4 percent, which primarily comes from negotiated salary increases for county employees as well as a projected 4 percent expected increase in employee health insurance. The anticipated $10 million replacement of the courthouse’s HVAC system will be spread out over time as has been done with other big ticket items such as building the jail and courthouse renovations and mold remediation.