BROKEN BOW, Neb. – The Custer County Board of Supervisors met for what would become a lengthy meeting spanning more than three hours on Tuesday morning. All supervisors were present.
Wage increase for County departments granted
County Clerk Connie Gracey asked the board to consider a directive regarding 2025-2026 fiscal year wages, rather than a back-and-forth bouncing of decision making between county departments and the board before a decision is made.
After a discussion on what figures to use when determining an amount, the board approved a 2.15% wages increase for each department. The amount would be determined by using the wage numbers from the three prior months prior to the budget. The increase would be a pool increase for each department, with each department’s leadership in charge of allocating the increases.
Board of Equalization matters
All districts had tax list corrections read by their supervisor, presented by County Assessor Elise Taylor. Common for this type of year following property valuation mailings, changes are the result of either property owner protests or clerical errors.
Resolution #14-2025 was approved, allowing for the use of funds in the county’s general miscellaneous fund to cover expenditures that went over budget for both child support and the county jail. The child support overage was less than $1,000, while the jail was over by about $10,000. Sheriff Dan Osmond had alerted the board of the incoming overage due to an inmate transport bill in March of this year.
Several motor vehicle tax exemptions were approved by the board, for various organizations that had to meet the requirements of a five part statutory test. All organizations that applied met those requirements. Tax losses for each approval cost between a few cents and a couple hundred dollars.
Wildlife Damage Management Assistance renewal considered
Two representatives with the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the US Department of Agriculture (APHIS-USDA) came before the board regarding a contract renewal for wildlife damage management assistance.
The service agreement, which would come with a 14% cost increase this time around, assists the county and its residents with wildlife-related problems like disease threats, livestock predation, crop losses, and property damage. Racoons, coyotes, and even prairie dogs are common wildlife dealt with in Custer County.
The board asked for a report on the amount of work done with the program by the county the previous year before making a decision and the matter was tabled.
Conservation easement discussed again, no decision made
A potential conservation easement between two parties south of Broken Bow didn’t make any progress following a lengthy discussion on Tuesday. The matter came before the Board of Supervisors having been recommended against by the Planning Commission. Tuesday’s board discussion centered around figuring out why in addition to finding a solution for the parties.
A negative easement was touched on as a possible solution rather than a conservation easement before the item was tabled to the next meeting to reach out to the other party and research options again.
Other items from Tuesday’s meeting
- Emory Haynes with the Custer County Veterans Service Committee had the appointment of Lyle Runyan approved by the board. The US Army Veteran will serve on the committee until June 30, 2030
- Weed Superintendent Tim Conover had his request for the county to accept Sandhills Weed Management (SWM) district equipment in order to secure coverage approved, contingent on a liability agreement being signed by all counties and that Custer County is reimbursed by SWM.
- Kelly Flynn gave the quarterly recycling report, highlighted by over $8,000 in sales since March and over $3,500 in inventory.
- Amanda Jeffres and Stephanie Gideon gave an informative update from Loup Basin Public Health Department. The department has a 20 member board and 14 staff members. They are a part of a group facing $3.5 million in cuts to state funding in addition to substantial federal cuts. They have been asked about hubs in other counties in their large area to alleviate travel to Burwell, but are focused right now on maintaining in the face of funding cuts by sticking to a rigorous travel schedule.
- Senator Tanya Storer addressed the board, stating that she introduced 15 bills during the session, nine of which passed. She talked about some property tax accomplishments that were made, being most excited about the movement of community college levies being moved to the state. A concern about traffic increases on county roads not built for the heavy traffic were brought to Storer, thought to be a result of Apple or Google Maps routes taking those using their service on the routes rather than on state roads or interstates.
- A single application to cross right-of-way was approved for power to a grain bin for Custer Public Power District.
The board entered closed session for an evaluation of job performance just after Noon.
