Mills County Supervisors Submit Five-Member Governance Expansion to November Ballot

GLENWOOD, IA — The Mills County Board of Supervisors approved a formal resolution on Tuesday placing a public governance referendum on the November 3, 2026 general election ballot, asking county voters whether to expand the county governing board from three members to five.

Citizen Petition and Statutory Process

The action follows the submission and certification of a citizen petition containing more than 850 verified voter signatures gathered by the Mills County Committee for Better Representation under Iowa Code Chapter 331. The petition exceeded the statutory threshold requiring signatures equal to 10 percent of the county ballots cast in the preceding gubernatorial election.

Proponents of the expansion argue that as Mills County experiences rapid residential and commercial growth along the suburban Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan fringe, a five-member board will deliver better geographic representation for rural townships, agricultural drainage districts, and growing municipal centers.

Governance Debate and Budgetary Impact

County Auditor Carol Robertson presented administrative fiscal notes estimating that adding two supervisor seats would incur approximately $78,000 in annual operational and compensation costs. Board members discussed whether future seats should be elected at-large or through newly drawn single-member supervisor districts.

If approved by a simple majority of voters in November, the expansion will take effect for the 2028 election cycle following the creation of new county supervisor district boundaries.

Ballot Certification and Public Information

The County Auditor's office confirmed that formal ballot language will be published in local newspapers by late September alongside impartial explanatory summaries.