The Polk County Commissioners met this week and received updates from Polk County Administrator Chuck Whiting that the county had been notified by the Department of Revenue about two tax valuation agreements they have reached.
The first agreement was for the Southern Lights line owned by Enbridge Pipelines, LLC decreasing it’s valuation by $13,464,800 and the second with Great Lakes Gas Transmission, LTD decreasing its valuation by $32,706,700. “We’ve been notified for the Enbridge Southern Lights line, which is different than the one I always end up talking about, was devalued,” said Whiting. “It was decreased for Enbridge, however, our portion in Polk County means they’ll owe us another $76 in Polk County which essentially means no change. The other change was for Great Lakes Gas. Their line was decreased in value by about $32 million. We have a portion of that in our county, we haven’t heard yet what the valuation change will be. We won’t owe any refund on that however because that’s 2018 value for 2019 taxes which will be going out shortly and due in May.”
The Great Lakes Line is fairly small in Polk County says Whiting accounting for less than one percent of the valuation in the county. Whiting also said he’s uncertain if the decision on the Enbridge Southern Lights Line is an indication of what to expect for a ruling on the main pipeline of concern for Polk and surrounding counties. “Don’t really know,” said Whiting. “When the Department of Revenue notifies us of this they notify us of the decision, not really the details of what went into it. These two basically I believe were negotiated between the DOR and Enbridge/Great Lakes to come to an understanding that was acceptable for the value change. We actually appreciate that they do these things quickly so that we don’t end up in a situation like the other pipeline because we can adjustments and not leave other taxpayers to have to pay back the taxes that have been collected.”
Both the House Bill and the Senate bill calling for the state to pay a refund are still be considered within the state legislature. “We’re monitoring the house bill and its companion in the Senate,” said Whiting. “It basically says if a utility refund is determined on a state valued property the state would pick up the refund cost which we agree with. I know they are still in play, we’ll just have to see where they go.”
The commissioners also approved an out of state travel request for Sheriff Jim Tadman and Public Health Director Sarah Reese to attend a Rural Sheriff and Rural Judge Opioid workshop in Columbus, Ohio April 1-3. The county will be reimbursed for all travel expenses by the workshop. Additionally, they formally approved two sort line operator positions discussed at the last board meeting for the Fosston station. Christine Anderson spoke with the County Board about the work she has done with the Small Business Development Center and the board approved a new lease agreement presented by Whiting for the East Grand Forks office space with Northwest Mental Health Center. “They are a tenant of ours right now in the East Grand Forks building,” said Whiting. “Our departments – Public Health, Social Services, and Law Enforcement – work closing with them. We’ve been remodeling interior space for them to expand. That includes coming up with a new lease which is basically the old lease but recognizing the new square footage and term of seven years.”
The consent agenda passed as well including the approval of commissioner warrants and signed audit list; the February 26 and March 5 meeting minutes; payment to Card Member Services, St. Louis, MO, of $11,644.70 for credit card purchases; payment to Batteries +Bulbs, Duluth, MN, of $352.81 for battery supplies for the Facilities Department.
