Rice County Observer REPORT: Rice County Commissioner Meeting, 9.26.23

Rice County Board of Commissioners Mtg

9.26.23

Observer notes

• Environmental Services: Julie Runkel
  • Approved interim use permits and a waiver of plat
• Public Health/Nursing: Deb Purfeerst
  • Commissioners approved renewing a long-standing agreement with Kathy Cooper through the Toward Zero Deaths (TZD) Safe Roads Grant
• Information Technology: Allan Klug
  • Commissioners approved renewing the county’s adobe acrobat license
    • Adobe has increased the price licenses from $185à$265 per user increase
    • Docken question: Is there any relief or change coming down the road?
      • A: Not really. There are other products that work with PDFs, but the county has a lot of internal forms that have been created with acrobat in mind, so those other software options don’t work well
• Attorney’s Office: Brian Mortenson
  • Commissioners adopted proclamation of October as National Domestic Violence Awareness Month
    • HOPE Center served 1,180 victims in one year, meaning there is one incident every 2.23 days in Rice County.
    • We need to train community that victims don’t look like the victims we want them to look like, or act like we want them to act. Goal of doing more education about
    • In 2022, 24 victims died of domestic violence homicide in Minnesota
    • There’s not enough housing, education, or resources for people facing domestic violence in Minnesota.
  • Docken, Malecha, Underdahl, Purfeerst offered thanks
• Highway, Dennis Luebbe
  • Commissioners approved resolution and agreement to replace bridge on County Road 81, .75 miles north of 246, about 3 miles west of Dennison, using state funding, approximately $50,000.
  • Commissioners approved detour agreement with MnDOT, with state paying for additional maintenance and life of the road consumed by the detour for Highway 33, totaling about $22,000.
    • Malecha: When is the project on Highway 3 supposed to be done?
      • A: The Trunk Highway 3 roundabout may be open in about 10 days
  • Commissioners approved MnDot Contract regarding a six-legged roundabout, which is currently out for bids. This contract solidifies $1.45 million from the state for the project, and there may be some additional federal funding available for the project.
    • Docken: This has been a long drawn out process, and he gets a lot of questions about when this is going to happen, so he’s looking forward to the project getting underway.
• Finance: Paula O’Connell
  • Following discussion at committee of the whole last week, commissioners set preliminary levy 6.93% increase from 2023, HRA levy 3.11% increase from 2023. Total: 6.91%. The final levy cannot exceed the preliminary levels set today. Then there will be a follow up final meeting in December when final rates will be set.
    • November 30, 6pm at Gov Center – Truth in taxation meeting in person and virtually
    • Malecha: What’s the overall percent increase?
      • A: 6.91%
    • Purfeerst: What’s that do to an average house in Rice County? A $300,000 house will see what kind of increase?
      • A: There are several factors at play. There is a % increase in valuations this year. The tax rate went down but there will be shifting in classes of types of real estate classifications.
      • Follow up A: Est Market value increases this year: 9.2% for residential, 13.1% rental, 5.6% commercial, 17.4% for agricultural
      • $250lk, additional $45/year based on this levy. $2.5 mill market value agricultural property would have an increase of about $1,200/yr.
    • Docken: Commented that it seems odd that so much of this is carried by ag. Need to focus on offsetting this with more commercial economic development.
    • Hoisington: With the growing county, you would expect a growing tax base. I don’t know how that correlates with tax increase? Our culture today has shifted from bricks and mortar to online shopping, so there are less stores contributing to our tax base, and that is getting disproportionately shifted to agriculture. In 1969, the commissioners talked about a cost of living increase of 5.9% for staff. I don’t know how to put the breaks on that. I wish I did.
    • Malecha: We are a county and our job is to deliver services. Different from what municipalities do. Most of what we do is mandated by the federal government. With growth comes service growth and we have to provide that.
    • Purfeerst: We’re fortunate in this county to have the number of nonprofit groups that we do. I know that we have to make so many hard choices, but I’m glad that we can hold the line to keep this tax levy as low as we can, but still provide the services we need to provide to our citizens. I’m okay with how it’s laid out right now.
    • Underdahl: It’s never an easy thing to approve budgets. Would love to see no increase, but everything is increasing in cost around us. The public doesn’t see everything that went into getting this budget where it is and presented to us. There are many more legitimate needs that could have been included but weren’t, because we’re trying to hold the line. For example, we’re not doing anything in our budget to advance our park, in terms of the plan that we had.
    • Public Comment
      • Cathy Jasnoch, Prairie’s Edge Humane Society director
        • Commented that she is frustrated and disappointed that their request for annual funding from the county has been declined.  
      • Elsie Slinger,
        • Expressed disappointment that the Prairie’s Edge Humane Society request for $5,000 has been declined by the commissioners.
• Administration: Sara Folsted
  • Approved consent agenda
  • University of Minnesota Extension contract – will be reducing extension and master gardener positions.
• Adjourned