The Guthrie County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Tuesday.

The Board heard from State Street Insurance Owner Becky Benton on the renewal of worker’s compensation, in which she shared that since the County had reimplemented safety group meetings and because rates have gone down for the fifth year in a row, the base premium for the county had dropped by $6,000. Benton also shared that because of those same factors, some major discounts were also able to be applied, and the county’s premium dropped from $163,412 in fiscal year 2025-26, to $52,924 in fiscal year 2026-27, a decrease of $110,488.

The Board also worked in a Strategy and Project planning session, discussing the topics of winter weather, county employee travel policy, along with department head and elected official quarterly department updates. They then approved a tax abatement for a parcel of land for the city of Bayard, along with the purchase of three storm shelters from Guardian Tornado and Safe Rooms of Grimes, Iowa for $54,942.

The Board then approved two letters of support for grants that would help the Guthrie County Conservation Department with the Raccoon River Valley Trail project. Conservation Director Brad Halterman also shared that they had been awarded a land and water conservation grant for the project in the amount of $250,000. He added that with the recent grant, they had exceeded the halfway point of the funds needed to complete the project, meaning that from here on, it would be easier to be chosen to receive any grants or funds that they applied for.