The Polk County Board of Commissioners met in the county boardroom at the Polk County Government Center on Tuesday.
INCOME-BASED SEPTIC SYSTEM FIX-UP PROGRAM
Planning and Zoning Director Jacob Snyder brought an application to the board for the Income-Based Septic System Fix-Up Program and recommended awarding the applicant a $1,500 grant and a $10,500 loan to help pay for the proposed septic improvements. The terms of the loan are 0.0001% interest over the life of the loan, paid back through property taxes over the next 10 years. Snyder told the board that the success of the loan program, which has had about 20 participants since its inception in the early 2010s, has given the county the option to help out applicants through grants and loans, when applicable. “We were receiving state funds to help people fix up their septic systems, and at that time, we set up a loan repayment program,” said Snyder. “It’s where we would pay a portion through the funds. We would actually eat some of that cost at 25% of the bids, and then the remainder they would pay back in a 10-year term on their property taxes, and so we operated that program for about four to five years. That way, we got a little bit where we switched directions where we were giving out more of that grant funding, and so we always had that loan program as a backup for years.”
CROSS LAKE/TILBERG PARK CAMPGROUND HOST OPENING
Polk County Engineer Richard Sanders introduced two maintenance requests for County Ditch 67 near Bygland Township to the board seeking approval for both requests. One request was to extend a culvert on a farm approach, and another was to create an approach for a separate property. The board approved the requests and named Sanders to oversee the projects.
Sanders also requested the advertisement of a position as host at the Cross Lake/Tilberg Park Campground. The current host has submitted his resignation, effective at the end of the 2026 camping season in October, and the goal is to find a candidate to fill the position and provide some time for training in that role before the camping season ends. “If we can get it advertised and HR can get the ads out, we can get applicants in by Labor Day, have a conversation with them,” said Sanders. “It’s possible in that month of September, both Glenn, the current campground host, and the new campground host could be out there working together, and so that they could be informed on what they’re going to have to do in 2027.”
JULY SHERIFF’S REPORT
Polk County Sheriff James Tadman provided the sheriff’s report for July to the board. Tadman spoke about the increase in calls for service in July, as the department received 837 calls compared to 700 in June. Tadman noted that the increase in calls could be attributed to several factors, including the July 4th holiday weekend, an increase in boat and water-related calls, and the Polk County Fair in Fertile. Overall, he was pleased with how the department handled the busy month. “I think it went really well,” Tadman said. “You know, July 4th is a really busy time for our sheriff’s office, and also the fair is a really business time. So, you know, a lot of the deputies are coming back and working overtime shifts, and we had a lot of boat and water activity over the fourth and trying to cover the lakes areas where it’s really busy, and then over the fair we had, you know, the extra shifts down there to make sure that everybody was safe and and having a good time down there.”
2027 BUDGET REVIEW OF APPROPRIATIONS REQUESTS
Whiting also led the board through a review of appropriations requests for the 2027 budget. He decided to bring this to the board’s attention in August to give them time to consider appropriation requests from various organizations and groups across Polk County and to decide how the board wants to proceed with funding them. “I need to make them aware that historically, we’ve contributed funds to certain groups around the county. There are three different historical Polk County groups: East Grand Forks, Crookston, and Foston, and then there are some other groups that you know small amounts are given to, and then there’s also the county fair. These are discretionary contributions from the county. So it’s really what the board wishes to do, and so I like to give them some heads up because we’re still four or five months from finalizing the budget, but when push comes to shove, it’s very hard for me to sit and tell them that this is a higher priority than some of the other county issues that we have, but you know we’ve made it work in the past.”
ENBRIDGE VALUATION APPEAL LETTER
Polk County Administrator Chuck Whiting brought a letter to the board seeking an endorsement. The letter addresses Enbridge, which has a pipeline that runs through Polk County, and their decision to challenge the valuation given to them by the State of Minnesota in tax court. Enbridge is seeking a refund of taxes it’s paid to counties across the state, citing an incorrect valuation determined by the state. Witing reminded the board that the county went through this same issue several years ago with Enbridge and want to find a way to avoid this situation from repeatedly occurring for counties like Polk, who receive around two percent of their total tax revenue from Enbridge annually. “Enbridge has filed a claim against the state that they don’t agree with their evaluation on kind of a unique aspect of what goes into that calculation has to do more with an environmental portion of their valuation, but this is all separate from Polk County, other than we are given the valuation when we are putting together the our budget. We levy against that valuation so that each property owner pays their share of taxes proportionate to their amount of valuation in the whole. So, when your largest taxpayer contests their valuation and ends up in tax court in a process that you know last time took almost seven years to resolve, they continue paying their annual taxes, but then the court can decide they are right and the state is wrong, and that each county owes a refund for their for a portion of those taxes.”.
The board voted to endorse the letter, which you can read in its entirety below.
When State Tax Battles Become Local Property Tax Problems
As local government leaders spanning counties, school boards, and townships, we have a responsibility to protect the taxpayers who fund our roads, schools, emergency services, and local government. Today, that responsibility extends beyond our county borders. Across rural Minnesota, communities are once again facing uncertainty because of another major property tax dispute between Enbridge and the State of Minnesota. While the legal arguments may be between a private company and the state, the financial consequences fall squarely on rural communities like ours. That is neither equitable nor sustainable.
For many Minnesotans, a tax appeal may sound like a routine legal matter. For all pipeline counties, it is anything but routine. Unlike most property taxes, counties do not determine the taxable value of interstate pipelines. The State of Minnesota does due to the highly complex nature of assessing these properties. Counties simply receive their share of the taxes based on the state’s assessment. If Enbridge successfully challenges that state assessment years later, local governments can be required to return tax dollars they already collected and spent – even though they played no role in setting the value or negotiating the dispute.
Enbridge is among the largest property taxpayers in every county its pipelines crosses. The assessed value of those assets equals multiple billions of dollars and directly affects the tax base that supports county government, school districts, townships, and other local services. When those values are challenged, millions of dollars can be at stake. If an appeal or settlement is resolved in Enbridge’s favor, local entities are ordered to refund a portion of these dollars retroactively, meaning local governments must draw from reserves and/or increase property tax levies to cover those refunds. Again, asking local governments not directly involved in the assessment to return dollars already spent on community investments. Those are not abstract numbers-they represent funding for public safety, road maintenance, education, and essential local government services such as teacher salaries, library hours, first responders, and more.
This year, once again, Enbridge has sued the State of Minnesota over pipeline valuations. While both parties have legitimate legal rights, they also have a responsibility to recognize that their dispute is creating collateral damage for communities that have no seat at the negotiating table.
This is not a new problem. Previous disputes stretched across multiple tax years, creating uncertainty for local governments while litigation worked its way through the courts. By the time settlements were reached, some communities faced refund obligations larger than an entire year’s property tax levy. Recognizing that local governments had no role in the dispute and that the end result could have bankrupted many communities, in 2021 the Legislature ultimately appropriated nearly $30 million to keep local taxpayers from bearing the cost.
That solution acknowledged an important principle: local governments should not become collateral damage in state-level tax litigation.
Today, we risk repeating the same cycle.
If no new approach is agreed on, additional years of appeals are almost certain. Every new appeal prolongs uncertainty, delays financial planning, increases legal costs, and places unnecessary strain on local governments that have no authority to resolve the underlying dispute.
This situation highlights a broader policy problem, which is how to shore up Minnesota’s valuation process for pipeline property to reduce the likelihood of appeals and impact of these appeals on local communities. While local governments understand the need for the State to assess these complex, multi-jurisdiction businesses, we must create more certainty and protection from the system for our local governments. In addition, it’s important that companies asking for community support recognize that when they appeal the valuations, they threaten the very communities they’ve asked for and received support from.
Enbridge frequently emphasizes its partnerships with rural communities, local governments, and first responders. Those partnerships should extend beyond sponsorships and community investments. A company that values its relationship with rural Minnesota should also recognize the financial uncertainty repeated litigation creates for those same communities.
Every year this dispute remains unresolved is another year rural communities are forced to budget around uncertainty they cannot control. Any resolution that requires multiple years of refunds places many communities in extreme financial peril, including the possibility of bankruptcy. Local governments should not function as the financial backstop for state tax litigation. The State and Enbridge both have the ability – and the responsibility – to break this cycle. Rural Minnesota deserves a permanent solution, not another decade of appeals.
Approved this 4th day of August 2026
Signed by Joan Lee, Board Chair, Polk County Board of Commissioners
The next Board of Commissioners meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, August 18, at 9:30 a.m. in the county boardroom at the Polk County Government Center in Crookston.
