The Polk County Board of Commissioners met Tuesday morning inside the Polk County Government Center. The agenda included setting the County’s Preliminary Tax Levy for 2022, Rachel Klein of the East Polk Soil & Water Conservation District presenting the District’s 2022 budget, a pair of public ditch hearings, and Sarah Reese of Public Health discussing reclassifying a position for Correctional Health.
County Board Chair Gerald Jacobson was absent, so Vice-Chair Joan Lee of the 4th District led the meeting.
2022 PROPERTY TAX LEVY
The board officially approved a preliminary 4.6% Tax Levy Increase, intending to reduce the levy to around 3% by the end of the year. The 4.6% increase raises the Net Levy for 2022 by $1,150,000.
Whiting discussed the timeline moving forward and explained that budget cuts are already being worked on. “We’re already working on getting the levy to fit into the budget,” said Whiting. “Traditionally, we end up getting closer to 3%, we still have several variables in play over the next couple of months, but generally, we’ve been able to meet our target.”
Notices will be sent out to all property taxpayers sometime in November, showing how the tax levy will affect them. A notice for the “Truth in Taxation” hearing will also be sent out at that time. The hearing will be held on December 14 at 6:00 p.m. inside the Polk County Government Center, and the budget for the county will need to be complete at that time.
EPSWCD 2022 BUDGET
Rachel Klein of the East Polk Soil & Water Conservation District then presented a budget breakdown for the district’s 2022 budget. Total expenses are estimated at $261,012 for the upcoming year. The most significant expense within that budget is Total State Grant Revenues which is set at $165,371.
Whiting discussed how the East Soil & Water Conservation Budget would align with the county’s as they begin to try and reduce the Tax Levy. “They had given us the numbers ahead of time, so we’ve got to review them before today,” said Whiting. “It looks like it does every year, and we’re anticipating being able to accommodate them.”
DITCH HEARINGS
There were then two public hearings held for State Ditch No. 61 and Joint Judicial Ditch 72. The hearings were held to facilitate the consolidation of the ditches after the completion of the redetermination on the ditches that took place back in June. The board approved the consolidations of the ditches that were proposed.
Polk County Engineer Richard Sanders gave an overview of the hearings and what action the board took. “The ditch hearings today were to consolidate all the ditches that drain into ditch 61 by putting them into one system, and all the ditches that remain and run into ditch 72 would then be placed into two separate systems as well.”
Polk County Ditch 61 will now be called Polk County Ditch 200 after the consolidation, while Ditch 72 will be two separate systems separated by the Lost River. The system to the West of the river will be called Joint Ditch 100, and the one to the East will be called Joint Ditch 101.
RICHARD SANDERS HIGHWAY
Sanders also presented the board four different Certificate of Performances for approval. Each certificate shows that each company receiving one completed their work in full for the project(s) they were assigned to. The four certificates of performance for the board to approve and project(s) each company completed are below.
- KAMCO INC (Bituminous Rout & Seal on seven different projects)
- Wm D Scepaniak INC (Laying Base for CSAH 18, CR 201, and CSAH 29)
- Agassiz Ashpalt LLC (CR 210 – Bituminous Surfacing)
- Knife River Materials (CSAH 23 – Widening)
The board approved all four Certificates of Performances. There was also a Ditch Maintenance Request for County Ditch 13, which the board approved unanimously.
SARAH REESE PUBLIC HEALTH
Polk County Public Health is looking to reclassify a Full-Time Registered Nurse position to a Paramedic and Licensed Practical Nurse position for Correctional Health. Polk County Public Health Director Sarah Reese talked about what action was needed from the board. “As we have new openings, we assess our needs to make sure we can best serve Tri-County Community Corrections with our services,” said Reese. “We requested to the board to reclassify a position so that it meets the needs of the agency and finding the right candidate.”
The reclassifying of the position will allow Polk County Public Health to look for a broader range of candidates to meet the needs of the job. Reese presented the job description to the board and the requirements that will need to be met. The board approved the reclassifying unanimously.
Reese also talked about COVID-19 as cases are rising in Polk County. “With the current COVID-19 situation, I’d ask people to be mindful,” said Reese. “We are seeing an uptick in Covid cases, so I would say if you’re sick, stay home and take care of yourself, and if eligible, please get vaccinated.” Reese also said in addition, try to wear masks indoors when possible.
OTHER ITEMS
Other Items included Polk County Sheriff James Tadman giving the board a rundown on the monthly numbers for August. One notable number from the report was that the department saw a slight decrease of 20 miles of transporting inmates in August compared to July. 6,866 miles were traveled for August, compared to 6,886 miles in July.
Jacob Snyder of Polk County Environmental Services brought forth a Conditional Use Permit request for Ron Wald. The request proposes to hook an existing accessory structure to a new holding tank septic system for shop use only. The board approved the request unanimously.
Karen Warmack of Social Services joined the meeting to request the board approve an Eligibility Worker Replacement Request. The board approved the request unanimously.
Michelle Cote, Director of Property Records, presented a Public Safety Lease request before the board. The lease is an agreement with the Polk County Department of Administration, and the State of Minnesota to allow the state to rent 600 square feet of space in the Polk County Government Center. The space would be used as a Driver’s Exam Station and for other related activities. It is unknown if the State has the staffing to utilize the space, but the option is now available as the board approved the lease.
If the state does have the staffing to operate out of the Government Center, the Lease will begin in January of 2022 and last over three years until the end of June in 2025.
