Johnson Co officials say reducing size of Board of Supervisors not a good idea

Some people are wondering what Johnson County would look like with just three supervisors instead of five.

This comes after Linn County voters reduced the size of its board of supervisors in 2016.

No one has formally filed a petition, but the Iowa Secretary of State's office tells KCRG they have gotten calls from people asking how to do so. The Secretary of State's office notified Johnson County officials about this.

Cutting the two positions would save about $140,000 per year by 2020 based on the current pay structure. Johnson County Auditor Travis Weipert said that equals only a very small percentage of the county budget. Johnson County switched to five supervisors in 1976.

Supervisor Rod Sullivan said large, diverse counties like Johnson County need more voices at the the table, not fewer.

"I mean there are people that bring different perspectives to the board and that's helpful. There are topics that come up that one person has life experience in that the others don't so that's always helpful to have that extra voice," said Rod Sullivan with the Johnson County Board of Supervisors.

A petition to reduce the number of supervisors would need more than 8,000 signatures and would need to be filed by August. The Iowa State Association of Counties said there are 60 counties that have three supervisors and 39 counties that have five.