The Polk County Board of Commissioners met on Tuesday afternoon at the Polk County Government Center.
PROPERTY RECORDS
The board was first approached by Property Records Deputy Director Annalee Jones, who came forward with a lease for an extension for the city of McIntosh. She explained that the University of Minnesota Extension looked to lease a piece of property on 240 Cleveland Ave in McIntosh, starting on January 1, for $1,562 to be paid on a quarterly period. The board approved the lease unanimously.
COUNTY COMMISSIONER-CHUCK WHITING
The board then heard from Polk County Commissioner Chuck Whiting, who invited Finance Director Ron Denison, who made a motion to approve the use of ARPA funds to reimburse the Polk County Departments for specific expenditures. These include the Center’s staff and software, supplies and professional services, Social Service’s Education, Foster, and Child Care, and Public Health’s pay and supplies through September 2022, totaling $185,267.26. The board approved the motion unanimously.
Fosston Redevelopment Plan
Whiting then came forward with a resolution for the board to acknowledge the changes in the Fosston redevelopment plan they approved in June. The main changes included the developer changing, and they had asked for a $300,000 loan from the HRA to help finance the remodeling of the former Palubicki grocery store into housing and change Palubicki to be the developer of the plan. The board approved the plan unanimously.
MOUs with Collective Bargaining Groups
Whiting then came forward with the implementation of the new wage grid for four bargaining groups that must agree to compensation changes. He invited County Human Resources Director Alecia Helms to give more information about the Memorandums. The four groups were the Dispatchers Teamsters Local 320, the Highway Engineers 49ers Local 49, the Solid Waste 49ers Local 49, and the Courthouse AFSCME Council 65. She reported that all four groups agreed to the terms and showed the new increases and grades they would receive, and with each new step they completed, their pay range steps would increase by 3%. She hoped she would meet with three other groups later this week and bring them the next set of groups next week. The board approved each of the memorandums unanimously.
Draft Budget Resolutions
Whiting then came forward with the pending 2023 budget approval on December 20 with several resolutions for the board to adopt. Whiting reported he had two budget resolutions, one for the budget itself and the other was the actual levy resolution, which included the final summary budget for 2023, showing a levy increase of 3.95251% over the 2022 levy. The next resolution was the 2023 wage and position resolution, with an hourly wage grid adjusted upward to 2% and 1.25% mid-year per approved collective bargaining agreements. It also identified changes to existing, additional, and new positions, still waiting to determine the grade for the MIS position. The third resolution included specific amounts for the annual salaries of the County Administrator, Sheriff, and County Attorney for a new gird resulting from the wage study positions above step nine in their respective grades. This would cause two COLA increases for the County Attorney and the Sheriff by an additional 1.1% to maintain the wage differential with the Chief Deputy position. The last resolution was for the Commissioner’s 3.25% wage increase, benefits, and per diems to reflect a wider scope of committees, meetings, and situations where the commissioners represent the county.
2023 Proposed Budget review
Whiting then presented a review of the budget for 2023, where he reported they had budgeted expenditures of $69,881,941 with a Net Levy of CPA of $26,897,712. They also had reserves applied against the levy at $2,987,670 with $1,382.824 from the County Program Aid, which was $11,579 down from 2022, and they had used $2,511,114 of their American Rescue Plan Act funds. “I highlighted that we’re using almost three million of a variety of fund balance money to keep the levy down. We also have some projects in line that we sold some bonds for the Justice Center. Hopefully, by mid-winter, we’ll have an idea of what those will cost. We had to swallow a couple of pretty tough things. We had a big increase in what we contribute to the Tri-County Regional Corrections, which was a big impact on the levy,” Whiting explained. “We also did a market study for wages, which came in and required us to put in more than what we anticipated it would be, but we’ve put that into the budget.” This gave them a total levy increase of $1,022,712 or 3.95251% for a total of $26,780,625 with a non-debt levy increase of $899,205 or 3.751%. Some of the notable budget items included about $2,511,114 of the ARPA funds primarily being used for Highway ($1,800,000 for county road project contracts) and Social Services ($418,317 for various programs’ assistance for mental health, childcare, and development of Resource Center) being budgeted as an expense and revenue for their departments and the tax rate would decrease much in part due to Enbridge Line 93 valuation coming online and generating approximately $600,000 in new property taxes from Enbridge. Other departments that received American Rescue Plan Act funds include the Sheriff’s Department for a new mobile dispatch station unit for $192,797, the Public Health Department for COIVD response measures and associated payroll costs for $90,000, and the Finance Department for the Federal Single Audit costs associated with the audit of ARPA expenditures for $10,000.
WEST CENTRAL REGIONAL WATER DISTRICT
The board finished the meeting with a video call to the West Central Regional Water District to hear a resolution approving the establishment of the West Central Regional Water District & Commencement of Water System Establishment Proceedings. Project Manager Sarah Sesselman explained that Norman County formed the district and initiated the judicial proceedings to give the district the authority to operate a public water system. She explained that since the Water System encompasses both counties and Clay County, they needed to bring it to both county commissioners before proceeding with the construction. “Legally, they have to organize as a legal entity that takes going through district court to do that. Norman County had taken the lead in a resolution that kicks that process off. It was tailored a little for Polk County to agree with that, and the board met with the Norman County Attorney and the engineer working on the project to review the resolution and ask some other questions that come into play in the process.” Sesselman explained that Polk County would not be hiring or have any financial obligations to it but would participate in the Water District’s board for future decisions. Commissioner Strandell asked them which county court would oversee the project as it was expanded throughout multiple counties. She answered that a judge in District 9 would oversee any district development. Whiting then asked if they were planning to build any wells on Minnesota’s side, to which Sesselman replied that they had to go through a preliminary and permitting process to do so. When the commissioners asked what the district had left to do in order to begin the project, Sesselman explained they would then work with the district court to be formed as an entity before they would return to appoint members to the district board. “It won’t come back to the Polk County board until it comes time to appoint members to the Water District, the same as we do for the Marshall-Polk Water District,” Whiting explained. “Then we’re also looking to use some American Rescue Plan money for a portion of the project focused on the City of Climax.” The board approved the resolution unanimously.
The Polk County Commissioners will next meet on Tuesday, December 20, at 9:30 a.m. in the Polk County Government Center.
