After a lengthy discussion, the county commissioners voted 4-1 to set the preliminary tax levy of 5.5 percent for 2023. The final levy must be set before the start of the new year and can’t be set higher than 5.5 percent, noted Administrator James Joerke.

Commissioner Stacy Hawkins didn’t want the proposed levy to be higher than 5 percent, and she voted nay, with commissioners Dave Mills, Bob Svaleson, Ginny Storlie and Ann Sullivan voting in favor.

Before the vote was taken, Administrator Joerke presented the proposed Cook County Fiscal Year 2023 budget to the board at the Commissioners’ Tuesday, September 13 meeting. That proposal was for a 3.95 percent levy increase for 2023.

Included in the 85-page summary were budget and levy requests from the county departments. Joerke said the proposal included using $1,175 million from the general fund balance to offset expenses in the highway department, Public Health and Human Services department, and the general budget. Without using the money from the general fund, the proposed levy would be around 11 percent, said Joerke.

Included in the 85-page report was a living wage adjustment of 3.5 percent and a health insurance increase of 7.5 percent.

Commissioner Mills argued for setting the proposed levy at 6 percent. He feared setting the levy lower would result in the wage and compensation study using up most of the funds, which could cause the board’s “hand to be tied” when other projects came up that needed funding. Joerke said he would try to get commissioners the cost of the wage/comp study before they have to set the final levy. Mills motioned for setting the preliminary levy at 6 percent, which Sullivan seconded.

The motion failed 3-2.

Next, Mills motioned to set the preliminary levy at 5.9 percent, and Sullivan seconded it, and the motion failed 3-2.

Svaleson said he favored setting the levy at five percent and the board should “prioritize what you have to spend.” However, he was persuaded to go to 5.5 percent but no higher. Svaleson was also in favor of using the fund balance to keep the levy lower, saying at this time of high inflation, people were making day-to-day financial decisions while trying to “make ends meet.”

Hawkins said half of the county wage earners make less than $50,000 per year and more than 30 percent earn less than $30,000. She said residents were worried about heating their houses and paying their mortgages. Hawkins added that the hospital and school were also looking at increasing their levies, and she worried that the tax payers would be overburdened. She favored looking at ways not to add some positions to the county at this time and to look at the county’s revenues when setting the budget.

Mills worried the board was “kicking the can down the road” by not setting a high enough preliminary levy. He also talked about upping commissioner salaries to $12,000 per year, noting commissioners make less than $30,000 per year and most working people can’t run for the position because of the low pay.

Svaleson said he would need comparables with other counties before making decisions about commissioners’ pay. However, he added he knew it was more expensive to live in Cook County than in other Minnesota counties. That discussion will continue, but nothing was settled at this meeting.

Sullivan asked Auditor/ Treasure Powers what the 20-year average was for the county’s levy, and Braidy responded that for the last 22 years, the average levy rounds out to 4.3 or 4.4 percent per year.

Administrator Joerke asked commissioners to figure out their priorities in the near future to help him sort out the final budget he would bring back to them. But, for now, the county board will, as commissioner Storlie said, “put their nose to the grindstone” and work on a final 2023 tax levy.

In other county business:

* Commissioners accepted with regret the resignation of Savannah Capps, Public Health and Human Services Social Worker, In-Home Support/ Adult Services worker.

* An Emergency Management Performance Grant of $15,585 was accepted. The money comes from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Homeland Security, and Emergency Management Division.

* Sally Berg was appointed to the Cook County Extension Committee for a three-year term.

* Brenda Port was hired as the Public Safety Telecommunicator/Jailer to fill a vacancy at the law enforcement center.

* Contracts for winter maintenance of Subordinate Government Service District roads were awarded to the following: Mike Rose Excavating for Evergreen SGSD Road; Greg Gecas for Mile-O-Pine SGSD; Cory Christianson for Little Ollie and Voyageurs Point SGSD; LaBoda Grading, Inc for Irish Creek SGSD; and W Labor, LLC. for Kellys Hill, Rosebush Hill, and West Rosebush Lane SGSD.

* Auditor/Treasurer Brady Powers presented the second quarter 2022 General Fund Budget Report. Powers noted that while half of the year had gone by, the county had collected 65 percent of the budgeted revenue and spent 45. Percent of the budgeted expenses with a net cost of 28 percent. The revenues were high primarily because of the federal payment to the county in lieu of taxes for the first half of the year.

Commissioners unanimously voted to accept the report.

• Commissioners passed a resolution to accept the grant agreement with the State of Minnesota Department of Transportation for the Airport Master Planning project.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has approved 90 percent funding, with the state agreeing to pay five percent and the county picking up five percent for the airport master planning. All told, the project is budgeted for $518,737, with the county picking up $25,937 of the tab. Under the agreement, the state will manage the FAA and state grant funds.

• The county board set the Truth in Taxation meeting for November 29 at 6 p.m. in the commissioner’s room.

• Commissioners reviewed the county’s business subsidy policy presented by Auditor/ Treasurer Braidy Powers. The county adopted the policy in April 2022.

The purpose of the policy is to redevelop blighted or under-utilized areas of the county; to create additional job opportunities; to retain jobs in the county; to enhance the economic diversity of the county, and to provide essential products and services, including workforce housing, within the county and to enhance the economic growth of the county.

About the policy, Powers said, “The statute says you need a wage goal in your Subsidy Policy. We didn’t put a wage goal in the policy in April because we couldn’t agree on what it would be so we decided to study it and revisit the policy in the fall.

“We approved an abatement agreement with Red Five this summer. That abatement is not considered a subsidy under the statute because the applicant’s investment in the property was greater than 70 percent of the estimated market value (MS 116.993). So, we were able to complete that Agreement without revising the Subsidy Policy (since it wasn’t a Subsidy as defined in the law 116.994). But we do still need to decide on wage goals because future projects – whether using abatements or TIF are likely to be subsidies and we’ll need the policy in place with those wage goals in order to approved future projects. “

HRA Director Jason Hale was asked to comment on the policy because he has some experience working within the basic guidelines from his former job. Hale said the state wants to focus on the tax base, prevailing wages, and job growth but not short-term construction jobs. He said to leave the policy flexible.

Powers said over the years, he has looked at this policy and found some of the language confusing, adding he hoped it would be rewritten.

Board chair Ann Sullivan asked for a committee to be formed to review the business subsidy policy and come back in a month or so with recommendations to the county board.

The review committee will consist of Stacey Hawkins, Ann Sullivan, Jason Hale, Beth Drost, Molly Hicken, James Joerke, and Braidy Powers.

• Recommendations submitted by the Parks and Trails Commission to amend current bylaws to make membership more consistent with the Cook County Planning Commission were accepted.

The Parks and Trails Commission gives recommendations to the commissioners on matters relating to planning, developing, and implementing parks, trails, and recreation programs and facilities in the county in cooperation with other local, state and federal public entities for the benefit and enjoyment of residents and visitors to Cook County.

• The Cook County Amateur Hockey Association donated $18,497 to purchase a Zamboni ice resurfacing machine to maintain the ice at the Cook County Community Center. Commissioners approved the donation and up to $4,502.52 of budgeted levy funding to help with the purchase.

To read this original story and more news, follow this link to the Cook County News Herald website.