On Tuesday, the Polk County Board of Commissioners reviewed the second round of preliminary budgets, including the Environmental Services, Facilities, and Administration preliminary budgets.
ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES PRELIMINARY BUDGET
The commissioners first reviewed the Environmental Services budget, also known as Fund 48, which includes the Polk County Recycling program, Polk County Hazardous Waste program, and the Aquatic and Invasive Species program.
Environmental Services Director Jon Steiner presented the proposed budget for his department to the commissioners and announced, “There’s very little change.” However, there is a project that will include Polk County and construction debris landfills.
“They will let the water that comes in contact with the waste continue to perk into the ground,” said Steiner, “So there will be a plastic liner underneath them, we then must collect the water under the liner and have it treated. Since it’s not directly our study, it wasn’t something we would renew because it’s not cost-effective.”
This project includes eight other counties, and they will look to create two additional regional landfills. In this case, one will reside in Gentilly, and the other will be in Hubbard County. “All the close landfill sites, we will convert those from landfills to mini transfer stations,” said Steiner, “So if you’re in Red Lake County or Norman County, you can continue to go where the landfill used to be to get rid of material. You don’t have to run to Crookston or Hubbard County.”
The State is set to pay 75% percent of this project in the amount of $61.5 million through the MPCA and the state budget.
FACILITIES DEPARTMENT PRELIMINARY BUDGET
The next budget the commissioners reviewed was the Facilities Budget. Facilities Director Richard Langlois gave the proposal to the board, with the total being $750,000.
Langlois stated his staff will be getting pay increases as well as the maintenance staff. The budget also included the employees working toward a boiler’s license, who will now be compensated after completion of receiving the permit.
The Facilities department also revealed improvement projects that will be starting at the end of this year and the beginning of 2024. These projects include the installation of an auto handicap door and the replacement of the roof at the Polk County Government Center. “We’re still in the process of the Juvenile Center boiler project,” said Langlois, “We need to replace a transfer switch at the Justice Center that includes our generator and power system.”
$140,000 will go toward these projects, barring grant funding and bond money from the projects that are not yet complete.
ADMINISTRATIVE BUDGET
The final preliminary budget the commissioners reviewed on Tuesday was the Polk County Administrator budget. Polk County Administrator Chuck Whiting gave his budget proposal to the board.
The total amount Whiting proposed to the board was in the amount of $389,079, which is almost $100,000 more than the previous budget. Most of this increase is due to Whiting adding another position to the budget. “We’re looking at an account/clerk position which would help a few department heads with their day-to-day accounting,” said Whiting, “Also, budget processing, I’m still looking at the position with support for HR. We have these positions around the county, not in every department. We’ve realized that we got many people doing work that they could use some help with.”
Of the $389,079 in the proposed budget, $285,050 is allocated toward salaries. The salaries include the county administrator, assistant to the administrator, and one for the account/clerk position that is not yet finalized.
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