Polk County Commissioners Talk Fairgrounds Finances, Impending Closure

The Board of Commissioners held a public hearing considering a levy for future Polk County Fairgrounds operations.

Bazaars, shows, 4-H club, the fair, and more could disappear from Polk County unless funding is found for the fairgrounds.

The Polk County Board of Commissioners met Wednesday, February 11, for their regular meeting during which they held a public hearing considering an advisory question about a levy for the fairgrounds, and to hear other ideas on how to keep the fairgrounds open. The question would appear on the May ballot, surveying citizens about their interest in supporting a levy on the November ballot.

All three commissioners were present for a morning session and an evening session. The 9 a.m. forum was full of concerned citizens, and the 6 p.m. forum had standing room only, with the crowd spilling out into the hallway.

This comes after a Saturday, February 7, annual fairgrounds work session that drew about 180 concerned citizens.

“The general fund that supports the Polk County Fair has lost a little over $2 million in the last three years. We’ve been eating up the reserves, and we’re at a point where we cannot reduce reserves any further,” said Greg Hansen, finance administrator at Polk County. “Our expenses go up seven to 10 % — that involves wages, it involves benefits, it involves the cost of doing business. There are a number of issues (like) dealing with cybersecurity.”

The Polk County fairgrounds is consistently losing money year over year, and faces imminent closure. It needs about $780,000 in electrical safety fixes, $300,000 for annual operations, and another $400,000 for capital upgrades in order to stay open. Aside from hosting dozens of events year-round, it is also the emergency center during disasters.

“The fairgrounds is fiscally losing money year after year after year. It requires general fund support or grant support or some other kind of support,” said Commissioner Craig Pope. “We have over the last five years spent approximately $1.7 million just on building maintenance and building repairs.”

He said the general fund has been a big supporter of the fairgrounds, but it can’t support the future of improvement and operations at the scale the fairgrounds need.

The Survey and Levy 

A survey on the May ballot would ask whether voters would consider supporting a levy. If the results come back supportive, a levy would appear on the November ballot. The commissioners opened the floor for public input on whether they should put a survey on the May ballot.

The Fair Board is proposing an operating levy, which would add a property tax of $0.10 to $0.13 cents per $1,000 assessed value. This would equal about $4 a month for a $300,000 home.

The last fairgrounds operating levy election in May 2025 resulted in a 60-40 failure, asking for $0.15 per $1,000 of assessed value.

If the survey comes back negative, the fairgrounds will close in June 2026. If the levy does not pass in the November election, the fairgrounds will close in December 2026.

If the fairgrounds were to close, all county fair events would be canceled — including auctions, weddings, and more. The buildings would be shuttered and decline further, affecting surrounding property values. Hundreds of local students would lose their venue for youth programs that promote leadership and vocational training.

“I’ve tried to hire those (FFA) kids,” said Commissioner Lyle Mordhorst. “You can’t find a more responsible or dedicated worker than an FFA or 4-H student who’s really excelled. Their ability to speak, the respect they have, it just teaches them how to be a very productive citizen of society.”

Mordhorst also cited an increase in costs for power, fuel, food, vehicles, payroll, and healthcare as reasons the fairgrounds need more funding.

Citizen Response 

Citizens brought concerns from the importance of the flea markets, garden shows, and antiques shows for local vendors; to who will monitor the fair board spending and contracts; to a lack of information in public notice and how much money the levy will generate for the fairgrounds; and why not a bond instead of a levy.

Some said the survey vote before the levy vote could be confusing to voters, and that the county should skip the survey and simply go forward with the levy vote in November. Some wanted more information campaigns to educate the voters about the details of the fairgrounds and its funding.

County staff said the ballot information is limited to a 175-word summary, but they hear that they need to communicate better with public outreach about the campaign for the levy and the importance of the fairgrounds’ community benefits. They said every penny will raise about $85,000, so a $0.10 levy would generate about $850,000.

David Collins of Monmouth is an auction participant at the fairgrounds, and spoke at the public hearing.

“There are vendors there, and those vendors look at themselves as being self-employed,” Collins said. “If the fairgrounds closes, it looks to me like there are 100 people who are going to lose their business or their job, because the majority of them rely upon the income to supplement their Social Security.”

Stacy Tarver, longtime Polk County resident, teared up talking about the importance of 4-H to her family.

“I have been basically born into 4-H and born into our Polk County Fairgrounds. My daughter is now old enough to show in 4-H, and this is the first year she’s going to be able to do animal projects. She’s ecstatic, but she’s also very worried, and she told me that she would give all of her money if she could, because she wants to be able to show her cows,” Tarver said. “I also do things in the craft fair and bazaar side of the show as well, and it provides an income for my family. It allows my kids to go to a private school. It would hit me financially as well. But our 4-H program really has nowhere else to go and be able to show animals and actually collaborate together, and it would really hurt the kids of our county.”

Douglas Kowitz, Rickreall resident, said he’s never asked anyone to raise his taxes before, but goes to the fairgrounds three times a month for events like auctions, flea markets, gun shows, and coin shows.

“When I show up and I see all these RVs, and there are all these horses, that's our neighbors, we can't turn our backs on them,” Kowtiz said.

After much discussion at the two public hearings on February 11, the board’s final decision about whether to put a survey on the May ballot is slated for February 25.