[5:08] good evening everyone we'll call the uh County uh public meeting on the county [5:13] budget to order we'll begin with the Pledge of [5:19] Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and [5:24] to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with [5:29] liberty and justice for all thank you everyone for coming out [5:36] here this evening uh to come and review the county budget this is the meeting [5:42] where we uh present the proposed Levy or the levy that was passed back the [5:48] proposed Levy passed back in September and propos the budget information to the public to question and ask uh details [5:57] about the budget in light before we pass the final Levy which would happen here [6:03] likely on December 19th uh for the next year of 2024 uh if you have questions at this [6:09] meeting about your property value uh that would be at the separate meeting that takes place in June that would be [6:17] not this meeting uh but we'll get back to that in a little bit I'm going to kick it over to actually before we do [6:23] that we do a introductions uh Mike you want to start it off sure thank you Mr chair Mike catch mark County [6:29] Commissioner District 5 good evening everyone naen Shane um [6:35] County Commissioner of District 4 uh Derek vetch uh District Two County [6:42] Board chair I represent the city of monel monel Township Silver Creek Township clear waterer Clearwater [6:48] Township Maple Lake and Maple Lake Township hello I'm jeie Holland I'm [6:53] District three and I represent the city of oigo and Albertville good evening [7:00] thank you all for coming my name is Tina dedri I represent the oh my gosh fth the [7:06] F the fifth district why I I'm totally like wrong here um the the court the first district [7:14] the court Highway 55 Corridor oh my goodness then we can start off laughing on this this is a good thank you all for [7:20] coming um yes so anadale Buffalo and South hath are my cities and then five [7:28] townships administrator Kelly uh you want to kick off the details about uh the meeting [7:35] this evening yes thank you Mr chair uh so those of you that have had had the opportunity to meet and those of you [7:40] online watching as well my name is Lee Kelly I'm the County Administrator here at Wright County uh so thought it would [7:46] be good to just go over a few slides to give an overview of the 2024 budget and kind of where we're at in the process so [7:52] uh Frank if you'd skip ahead about two slides uh pass the agenda to the budget process overview if you would [8:01] so this is a quick representation of where our budget process is ultimately it's a year-long process for the county [8:08] uh these are just some of the highlights uh in May We Begin putting together our Capital Improvement plan and beginning [8:15] to get the budget workbooks to departments to start bringing forward to the board which we do in August uh have [8:21] a number of meetings where the department heads bring forward through Administration to the board their budget [8:27] requests for the upcoming year here as commissioner vetch mentioned in September we have to adopt a preliminary [8:35] tax levy and budget um by the end of September this year we did that on the 26th and per statute we are required [8:42] before we adopt the final budget by the end of December uh to have this meeting tonight uh after 6 PM for the public to [8:49] comment on this budget for the upcoming year so um you go to the next slide [8:55] please sir as commissioner vet mentioned also this this is a kind of a [9:00] complicated slide it looks very busy uh but it gives an overview of the total process of how property is uh assessed [9:07] and look back period how those values are determined and when um how our [9:13] budget is then applied onto that uh with our preliminary Levy and then showing uh [9:20] that we have to have our meeting tonight is kind of towards the end of the process uh before we adopt our budget [9:26] before the turn of the year and then it is applied next year for the property taxes so again tonight's meeting's focus [9:32] is on the 2024 budget uh we know there's many in the room that may have questions on their valuations uh and the time to [9:39] appeal that has passed but uh we would encourage you and would like to connect you with the assessor's office if there [9:45] are questions along valuations that we could answer for you [9:50] so so at this time is there anyone in this room that is here to discuss the value of your property or your home or [9:57] is every if you're here for that uh this meeting will not be able to answer those questions for you uh those [10:04] would be a meeting that we can set up with you uh in the assessor at a later date uh we don't uh this meeting is [10:12] purely to discuss the county budget and how the funds are allocated within the county budget we have a sign up for uh [10:20] the assessor to contact anyone that is here this evening to set up an appointment for them to discuss the [10:25] values of your uh property at a later date so you're more than welcome to stay but [10:31] if your questions are when we open up the public hearing about your property we will not be able to answer those questions all right all right thank you [10:39] with that uh so slide eight if you would [10:46] Frank how you work for that uh so your tax dollars at work um the county provides a number of services as you [10:53] know um that is number of things uh we have 512 miles of Road 39 county-owned [11:02] Bridges uh almost 4,700 Acres of public land that we maintain of that also some [11:08] of our core functions include Public Safety deputies the 911 systems maintenance jail um we help support the [11:16] Great River Regional Library system that provides libraries in the county as well as maintaining the vital records for [11:23] birth marriage licenses licensing and passport Public Health which provides [11:28] services to the public uh and preventing illness and providing critical support to our communities financial and Social [11:35] Services connecting the community to service and resources um designed to support [11:41] individuals from their family health and well-being Environmental Services U for [11:46] recycling Water Management feed lot management and other things such as veteran services with state and federal [11:54] benefits so as I mentioned uh briefly uh we thought it would be good to break [11:59] down uh kind of on a uh per capita per month basis what you're getting for your dollars uh on our taxes so the first [12:06] that we had put was Highway Maintenance at $4.9 per month that's a key key [12:12] factor of maintaining safe roads uh for our residents and preserving uh those [12:18] for the way forward so uh maybe Jump Ahead to Frank to the [12:23] parks and trails our parks and trails is $131 per capita in month uh we feel this is a [12:30] good value for the amount of open green spaces and programs that we provide through our parks office and the [12:36] opportunities for people to uh recreate within the county uh we know that it's a feature that we have that not of a lot [12:42] of counties or uh others and similar areas have that we have going for us so [12:48] uh Public Health I mentioned earlier um was $143 per capita per month uh you've [12:55] certainly been aware of them in the past years they did a lot of work during the co period times uh along with their [13:01] continuing Outreach to try and be Upstream of issues in the community and [13:09] Health Emergency Response including our Sheriff's Office 911 911 in dispatch um [13:16] this is a core function of government we value as you could see in our mission statement earlier providing a very safe [13:22] Community to live in um so it's hard to place a value on what you uh get for [13:28] that immediate response uh Great River Regional Library [13:33] system is a system that provides Library Services throughout Central Minnesota uh [13:38] we are a partner in that ensure the cost of that uh but per capita it only amounts to 131 per month per capita it [13:46] allows access to a great deal of services as well as DVDs and other materials uh and uh support staff to [13:54] help you do any research You may wish to do as well so some of the projects that the county [14:00] is currently working on uh you may recognize in the photo there our former Government Center downtown property uh [14:06] we're in the process of redeveloping that uh and selling that building with the developer for [14:12] redevelopment um the past year we've been working to distribute the American Rescue plan act through a variety of [14:19] programs and projects uh that's included building out the Broadband infrastructure in the county uh by [14:25] providing grants to various providers as well as providing grants and uh to our [14:32] townships for both Transportation projects uh also a lot of improvements made to the parks uh properties with [14:40] those funds uh the opioid settlement money continues to be a focus for the opioid [14:47] settlement Council we've received those funds as part of the uh various Drug Company settlements and have guided that [14:54] distribution uh to me to uh best address the public health concerns related to it [15:00] uh we are currently looking at the Compost Facility building and its current functions and efficiencies and [15:06] what would best suit the public for the future going forward uh and may do a different design out there uh We've also [15:13] worked on design and construction of a new Highway Maple Lake outop [15:19] so in the if you go to the next one please some of the things we've recently [15:24] completed um we've completed expansion of Thea Highway shop sold the former [15:31] Health and Human Services building um on 25 and 55 uh we are currently in the process of [15:37] implementing phase two of our enterprise resource planning program uh Oracle fusion um adding on to the financial [15:45] system that's already been implemented but adding to that both human Capital Management payroll and budgeting so [15:51] we'll have all of our information tied together in one system to make best budget [15:57] decisions uh we distri distributed a number of Grants through the American Rescue plan uh to counties uh from the [16:03] county to cities and townships uh for various sewer and water projects and uh we've worked this year [16:10] to uh establish the aggregate Special Reserve fund and allocate those out [16:17] so as we look at an overview uh a numberers wise of the budget uh the County's preliminary budget set in [16:24] September for 2024 was a little over $21 million uh of that the levy or the amount that [16:31] is collected by taxes uh is approximately half of that a little under uh at 95 million um we [16:40] receive uh which would be a 4.8% increase over 2023 is adopted Levy uh it [16:46] should be noted that we have uh in our region experienced a great number of tax capacity growth uh we estimated that at [16:53] about 17.3% which will help to offset the impact of taxpayer [16:59] of of our Levy for the upcoming year and of that 2.63% of the growth in the county is [17:05] coming from new construction so it's important to note um that the increase in the levy is not the same as the [17:12] property tax increase or potentially decrease you may see uh there's 14 factors that will impact how your tax uh [17:21] tax levy will be calculated that may be depending on what school district you live in City Township uh you live in or [17:28] variety number of factors uh additionally if you had a change in a homestead or you had various things on [17:36] your classifications that may have changed it may change that number as well so if you have questions around that again we encourage you um to sign [17:43] up with the assessor's office and work through those questions so as we look at our revenues again approximately half uh [17:52] of our uh overall income is related to property taxes um this is quick comparison on charts between 23 and 24 [18:01] uh we did receive a little bit more in federal grants categorical Aid and slightly more in other categories and [18:08] categorical Services than in 2023 uh so that did help over offset uh [18:14] part of our budget increasing um but not increasing the levy at the same [18:20] percentage as you look to spending for 2024 uh this is just kind of a quick [18:25] breakdown uh noting that we are a service organization and the bulk of our expenditures are tied to Personnel cost [18:33] uh whether that's staff or Associated uh expenses with that um just a quick uh [18:40] overview of that and as we talked a little bit earlier on kind of the per capita per month uh we also like to kind [18:47] of break this down on how every $100 are spent so this is what it is currently um [18:52] in a visual representation for the 2024 budget so [19:02] right um so our estimated market value uh did [19:09] see an in increase of approximately 15.01% for the 20123 [19:15] assessment um and as I mentioned earlier that can uh vary for a variety of factors and how it may translate into [19:21] your individual tax statement so uh we continue to see a uh a trend of [19:27] prehistoric growth um at some point uh we know the market will correct itself and we believe that [19:33] that will happen in upcoming years so uh it is impacting our region but as growth [19:38] increases it does then also uh impact our tax rate uh as you can see we've [19:43] tried to keep our tax rate uh if we go to the next slide please Frank uh with tax uh capacity we've tried to keep that [19:51] flat or reduced over the past several years uh we've been intentional in [19:57] achieving that and I believe that we demonstrate here that we have again so uh as it sits with 2024 our tax rate [20:04] would be decreasing again for the third year to row so uh with that um the big focus of this [20:12] meeting of course is the public comment period uh we do ask that you keep your [20:18] comments to three minutes uh and have everyone have a chance in order to speak before we go on to the next uh round of [20:25] speaking so if we do happen to get to the hour we will take a break uh but [20:30] with that uh I will open it up to the floor so before I open the floor can I [20:38] Frank have you bring back this last slide here so this is probably the most telling slide as to what's taking place [20:45] in property taxes over the last three years so if you look at the green area [20:52] that residential area that residential area is growing and the reason that that [20:58] makes up the pie and that in comparison to the other uh four areas that it's [21:03] being compared to those areas are not growing and the green area is the [21:09] residential area is growing and that's not growing entirely because of new homes some of it is but a lot of it is [21:16] saying that home residential homes are growing in value exponentially versus that of the [21:24] Agricultural and commercial industrial so you're absorbing the burden of [21:30] property taxes more as a residential home than that of a commercial [21:35] industrial or agricultural property because if all things were even the truth tell is the tax rate if [21:41] everybody's property stayed the same or everybody's property from agricultural residential and Commercial all increased [21:47] at the same value and the tax rate went down then the tax burden would be shared [21:53] equally and in this case if the tax rate went down what you would pay would actually be less [21:59] but because with the tax rate decreasing and the your value going up [22:05] more than that of other areas in the budget you're sharing you're absorbing [22:11] the burden of another property that's seeing a reduction so that's the biggest thing that you want to understand that when [22:17] you see that your tax rate going down in theory should mean that you would see a reduction but your value if you saw an [22:25] increase your property is increasing in value than that of other properties in [22:30] the county so you're absorbing their share I just wanted to point that out uh [22:35] as we get started into the actual budget discussions uh at this time anybody that [22:40] would like to come forward uh please do so we are like I said we are trying to keep it to around a three four minutes [22:46] so uh if it gets too lengthy we will cut you off because there's a number of people that want to speak uh I I'm [22:52] assuming a lot of you in the room want to speak and at this time anybody that would like to come up and ask questions [22:58] about the budget uh please do so uh just state your name so we can put that as [23:04] part of the public record is there anyone that would like to comment for the public [23:10] record I think it was page 17 that kind of split out the printing [23:18] is so no I guess it wasn't that one go go back another one Mr chair just so [23:25] Caitlyn knows state name oh I'm sorry Mary wer Rockford [23:33] Township um I think it was a graph that went from right to that one it's so uh [23:42] small the printing underneath could you tell me what like the major areas are [23:48] sure going from right from left to right that's all I've got to ask yes so the uh $22 is the general government uh going [23:56] next would be the 23 be public safety law enforcement uh Corrections uh collectively uh then the next one be [24:04] Highway at the $25 the then it would be the 16 would be Health and Human Services then the purple shade would be [24:11] Public Safety then over that would be uh parks department and and uh extensions the [24:19] next color after that would be uh Soil and Water uh conservation natural resources uh then the next one over that [24:26] would be Debt Service and then the other one is just a variety of miscellaneous [24:31] expenses uh veteran services things of that [24:39] nature all right yes [24:46] come come later if we if it's if everybody's not [24:52] taking a ton of time Lane I will give you more time absolutely all right if [24:57] you want to help kick it off so people don't feel shy Lane i' greatly appreciate it would that help the audience it might be some people that [25:04] are new at this most of these people are new faces to this so Lane if you want to show them the ropes [25:14] sure you and I are old hats at this how many years you been on the on the on the county commissioner board seven years is [25:21] there already been seven years I know right next year will be year eight wow [25:26] you haven't got any gray yet though that's what I'm surprised about I know my kids tell you I got gray all the time I don't know I wasn't gray when I [25:33] started I was young then right so anyway Lane Ro and Frankfurt Township I I'm [25:38] trying to like the free state of Jones I'm trying to uh uh get ourselves a next [25:44] that part of St Michael to hover or something else or start our own state but anyway St [25:53] Michael I know but I'm a smart Alex so um I want to read [25:58] something that was on the right County web page and I'm going to continue with the discussion that I had here a year [26:04] ago which I understand in the essence of time that I discontinued this is on the the uh news [26:12] flash truth and Taxation notice is being uh mailed out right so it's on it's a [26:17] web page on the Wright County site the TR taxation process was designed to [26:23] allow taxpayers transparency and the opportunity to become involved in the local government budgeting process the [26:31] notices provide taxpayers with proposed tax amounts for next year based on the preliminary budgets local governments [26:37] have adopted and the value of and classification sent out by the county assessor this year and of course you're [26:45] required to send out those statements and you're also required to have this meeting it's a state law um where I get [26:52] wigged out always is the big t-w transparency I I [27:02] um it frustrates me to no end that for example on [27:08] Facebook and Mike this is where I'm coming back to this that the county continues to put things that it has no [27:14] business putting Facebook posts on and I realize people will comment on it [27:20] because people can't help themselves but to comment on Facebook posts but the county really shouldn't be involved in [27:25] doing this kind of stuff for example uh recently in the last 6 weeks [27:31] or so the U county has commented on the Facebook post on the proposed new state [27:38] flag and again the Canadian Pacific Holiday train how the Buffalo Handover [27:44] montro referendum work uh came out uh the second week of November weather [27:49] forecast the Howard Lake Winstead Waverly referendum the uh Northern Lights by the [27:56] way whether they were going to be possibly out that night and Minnesota lottery tickets none of which has to do [28:03] with our County County government that is it has to do with our County some cases but none of the rest of them have [28:08] to do with our County government none of them but the one thing that the County [28:15] government hasn't done is you would think the truth and Taxation meeting is the most important meeting of the entire [28:21] year for the public to have discourse with the County government right can I [28:26] get agreement on that from you guys and is it on Facebook nope you know [28:32] the only mention it is is in the very bottom of the first page that it's part of the one of the meeting times on the [28:40] meeting calendar there's nothing else on the website about truth and Taxation [28:46] nothing tell me I'm wrong good point [28:52] where I looked in the finance area there's nothing specifically that calls out truth and Taxation [28:58] I saw the budget stff I printed the budget top level budget we submitted it into all the [29:03] local papers had a publication about the Ray County truth and Taxation your notice and it's on your [29:11] tax notice too in what it's on your tax notice I understand but those are [29:17] mandated my point here is comparing the communication that's going on on Facebook and that there's no [29:24] communication on Facebook about this particular meeting and I wonder why I there was I just seen [29:30] one that was on there I don't know when it was posted I did see that there was one that was put out there I guess I didn't know what day was posted I guess [29:36] I'd have to ask staff I didn't I seen it out there but it might have been two days ago four days trust trust me dere I [29:42] I looked I looked yesterday it was what day November 15 November 15th so I mean [29:50] I guess was it supposed to be reposted a bunch of times a lot of it depends on the the number of comments as the times [29:55] it reappears I the algorithm that Facebook as to how often it reappears in your feed I is [30:02] different than the next person I can't speak to that because that's an algorithm through Facebook we did put [30:08] the post out there I do know that it was out there the posting was more towards the property tax statement that people [30:13] received it wasn't specifically to encourage people to come to the truth and Taxation meeting to hear about the [30:19] the County government budgets the C County government policies and spending so I disagree with you sir that's a very [30:26] different thing you were just saying it wasn't I I guess the the language the [30:32] subjectivity of the language uh in the in the post itself it does State the date of it and the the purpose of the [30:39] meeting uh is is it is the wording the way you may like I don't know but I'd be willing to have conversations with you [30:45] in the future as to how it should be marketed I Would by all means Lane I I I [30:50] I'm with you I want more here people than less right and I believe in you know especially with local taxing [30:56] entities more transparency more communication tied to how you involve the public into [31:03] what's going on at the government is critical because people already don't know generally speaking what's going on [31:11] behind there's more than four walls around here there's like aund 100 walls here in this new government center but [31:17] my point is people don't know and my mission has always been to [31:25] prod the County government to be more transparent that property tax statement [31:30] thing which is just a copy of the property example property tax thing and saying you should be receiving your [31:35] property tax statements or have got them and that it did have meeting times on there but most people don't pay [31:41] attention necessarily to that I'm talking about a general Facebook message if that's what [31:48] you're going to use as a vehicle to communicate to people saying like this should there should have been a a [31:54] meeting notice sent over the weekend as far as I'm concerned that there was a truth and Taxation [32:00] meeting this week at 6 o' at this building there was a post um 10 hours ago from Ray County Minnesota Ray County [32:07] Board of Commissioners will conduct the annual truth and Taxation public hearing at 6m tonight in the county boardroom uh [32:14] finance and administrative staff will be on hand to help answer any questions about how the County Board arrived at [32:19] the levy which is a 4.8% increase from 2023 as a reminder to Residents this [32:25] meeting is solely to disc discuss the 2024 budget and Levy the amount of the budget that was used for property tax [32:32] dollars not property valuations or tax increases from other Juris jurisdictions [32:37] like cities and school districts okay so that Tina that was little bit more that's 10 hours ago right right most [32:43] people have already planned their day completely by then well we put went out in November 15 uh we put them in the [32:49] papers last week I I mean I I will say from a county perspective in in comparison not using uh I hate to throw [32:56] cities in the school under the bus we put a great deal of effort into marketing this evening to the public as [33:02] much as possible could we have done more yes I mean could they should we put it out every day every hour we we're [33:10] very careful on on how much we duplicate things because we don't want our [33:15] information to become uh irrelevant to people we we want people to when they [33:20] see a posting from right County it it is a compromise of County information and [33:26] information of Interest so that they always want to look at what it is that's why we have things in there that you may [33:31] think are irrelevant but it actually is what we considered it gets people to [33:37] click on it and read things engaging engaging and that's why we do that mixture it it it and it's done through [33:45] proven uh methods this this is how communication works is you need to [33:51] create a a readership a a a a number of followings and by putting information [33:56] that isn't necessarily uh 100% County related it gets us a more of a following [34:02] that gets more people County information well one could argue that you're wasting people's time because some people will [34:09] they can't resist they have to like or they have to comment on whatever it is and it has nothing to do with County [34:16] government nothing zero the things I mention would we agree on that at least [34:21] and that is a a a absolute perspective that that could be taken into consideration as well and we we try to [34:27] weigh the good and the bad and we feel that we getting more information to more people is more important than the few [34:35] people that that may dislike seeing some of the posts that maybe aren't 100% related to County government Chair Lane [34:44] uh some of it's engagement and I know for a fact that with that flag we we got [34:52] I think we he said we got like 10 people to like our page which is the the goal [34:57] so that they have that information coming on their feet all the time and just from that feed alone he got a lot [35:03] of comments as you probably saw they were about the flag but then he also got [35:09] a lot of people to to become to to have that on their feet at all times and [35:15] that's his goal well that's not even his goal that's that's our goal that's our goal that we we would rather have a [35:22] bigger following than in getting the county information out to more people [35:27] that because that's I'd rather have more County information to to 20,000 people [35:32] than to have to 100 it's like getting a subscription to [35:38] a newspaper like enticing them to get it you know what I mean well I disagree [35:43] with the the logic involved here um because I don't think it's the type of Engagement that you're all looking for [35:49] and and and and I get that but uh and we're probably going to have to agree to disagree on that but I guess Lane do you [35:55] got some budget questions Mr chair I think in the interest of time nine minutes gone by no budget questions [36:02] we move on to others that let come back up if there's no other people that's all I ask thanks Lane thank you yep thanks [36:09] commissioner catchmark is there anyone else that would like to com comment for the record come on [36:18] up my name is Pier risen and I'm in French Lake Township so the doll per capita is that [36:29] per like total population of yep so that's basically taking the 142,000 [36:36] people and taking the county budget and Divi and dividing it out so if you were to divide it out per property tax payer [36:43] it would be way more for the right yeah you'd be well it's hard because you [36:48] can't do it like that because not everybody pays property tax at a that's what I'm saying if you did it per [36:54] property owner but um you have to realize that like commercial property [36:59] pays at 2% and a farm a Farm Homestead under [37:05] 1.89 million pays a half a percent and a home over 500,000 pays 1.25% and a home [37:13] that's under 500,000 pays 1% so they don't pay all equally proportioned so you couldn't divide but the entire [37:19] population of right county is that's what it's comes out to that's what it comes out to per person per person yeah [37:25] so the property owners are paying way more than someone that doesn't own property yes that would [37:31] be that would be a fair conclusion from that but then you have to look at it [37:36] there's properties where there's no people live that are commercial that yeah I understand yeah so so um I'm a [37:43] small business owner I do Carpentry Services um this last year we've had to [37:50] reduce our rates everything's become more competitive with the inflation and [37:58] uh so you know we've really had to tighten up our belts I have eight kids and and um I'm married with eight kids [38:07] um and now my property taxes just went up 100% [38:12] um with a simple swipe stroke of a pen has there been any talk of [38:20] reducing budget so I be we've started that process [38:27] of redu in our I think of like with the Sheriff's Office and public [38:36] health uh emergency response that's the big one right [38:41] 1158 per month per per person so who knows what that ends up being for the [38:47] propep so half of the budget is paid by property [38:53] taxes roughly roughly yep and and then the Highway Maintenance departments um [38:59] we see a snowflake fall and they're out in full force is there any ever any talk [39:06] of hey maybe we could leave the salt trucks parked um that kind of thing [39:11] seems like there's a lot of waste there and with the emergency response um is there ever any talk of [39:20] reduction in those departments I guess so you're I guess [39:26] I'm say so we're law enforcement so you're saying that we think we're a little bit heavily staffed on a law enforcement perspective as I've heard [39:33] we're the heaviest staffed in the US but I I I'm not sure if that's true but I've heard per capita Wright County has the [39:40] most sheriffs or the biggest Sheriff Department that data is is not true so [39:48] um shair uh you know it's very deceiving because most counties have City PD [39:57] so we have only three City police departments and that is why we have the [40:03] biggest Sheriff's Department um whereas in hannahan County [40:09] they have you know like Rogers has their own Plymouth has their own so it's it's [40:17] not Apples to Apples okay so like in the emergency [40:22] response my cousin just had a dishwasher um [40:27] it was smoking and he dialed 911 and they brought the city of quo brought out [40:33] the ladder truck the entire fleet and they called uh the Howard Lake Howard [40:39] Lake entire fleet and there was I don't know half a dozen sheriff's deputies [40:44] that showed up as well the first guy that got there came in with the fire extinguisher and put it out but all the [40:50] rest of the troops still came is there ever any that's a lot of waste yeah that is [40:56] none of that comes from the county budget so your fire is all comes from your Township which it contracts with either Maple Lake or coco for fire [41:03] service and all that is paid through for through your Township taxes as they cont which with adversity that they contract [41:09] that is in a county expense we ours would be strictly law enforcement and 911 dispatch and the uh jail and people [41:17] that are hous within our jail well I would like to see reduction in in every [41:23] in all of the above it'd be nice to see if we had a 4 point whatever perc reduction versus increase in budgets cuz [41:33] and I appreciate your perspective because the biggest thing when we look at the budget the other thing is is we're we uh my wife and I homeschool our [41:40] children um so you know a big part of our property taxes goes to the school [41:46] which is kind of a bummer for us CU you know they're not going to the school is there anything for that that once again [41:53] that's under uh State legislation I I'm with you if they had uh educational tax [41:58] credits that you would be able to apply towards your own homeschooling but that's legislation we we can't do [42:03] anything about the state legislature would have to uh get educational credits that are transferable and right now that [42:09] doesn't exist so right now you choose to homeschool or open and roll your kids to a different District you're paying for a school that you don't utilize thank you [42:16] I appreciate those comments though Mr chair I just want to tell them one more thing before you leave you're doing a [42:23] good job homeschooling it's it's a lot of work I do it myself it's a lot of work thanks but I do hope you uh I'm [42:30] interested there uh what you have going on your property tax statement because that increase uh there has to be other [42:36] things taking place on your property if you had 100% increase uh I don't know there could be things especially if you [42:42] have egg property there might have been some changes that that happened in this last year that might be impacting you uh [42:48] so if you have egg property after this meeting if you're still around I can maybe answer some of those questions for you or at least point you in the right [42:54] direction that can maybe mitigate some of those impacts in the future because there are some changes that you if you have some uh Wetland or Wooded Acres [43:01] that you used to be tillable at Green Acres or never was the Green Acres Program kind of changed now that you [43:08] actually have to implement it into a new program it no it no longer is included in the Green Acres Program and if you [43:14] didn't fill out the sheet and put it into that program you would have seen a huge increase on your property taxes so [43:20] and that that likely is probably what's taking place on your uh property tax statement [43:27] Mr chair yes just a a couple other follow-ups for Mr ryen and thanks for coming in on the specific case of six [43:34] squads at a dishwasher fire I'll refer you to the other elected official the sheriff and if you can get a report [43:41] number or your cousin has one you can talk across the parking lot with someone [43:46] justifying six squads but I've heard these numbers being flated by those that [43:51] didn't actually see them themselves so it could have been three squads got there and three left and someone said it [43:58] was six squads so if you really want the honest accurate factual get the report and then talk to them about that and as [44:05] far as City resources and fire departments we don't weigh in on that you can talk to them how do you justify [44:11] but I know from history that once you start the calvary it's really hard to stop them especially volunteers because [44:18] they get going and they want to you get out there and help people uh home school [44:23] yeah I think uh home school is the safest School you never hear of an active shooter at a home school so uh [44:30] I'd say keep doing what you're doing the other thing School District related that is not related to our scope either [44:36] that's things that could be argued and legislated by others um oh the other [44:43] thing I looked into this when I got on because somebody smarter than me brought it up but how about you divide up the [44:49] property taxes evenly by every parcel of ground in R County which would be like [44:54] 65 to 7 ,000 Parcels what would that look like it came out a couple years ago [45:00] that everybody would pay about $1,400 uh so that would be an increase [45:06] for some and a decrease for others but then when I Trot it over to finance they said there's a statute that says you [45:13] can't do it so I have researched it because it was worth checking into it [45:18] would be a break for some and not for others so that's been looked at and the law stopped it there thank you [45:30] is there anyone else like to [45:38] comment uh Commissioners my name is Ryan Dunlap I am from oigo where I a city council [45:43] member uh in the September 26 board meeting uh commissioner catchmark noted [45:49] an additional 787 th000 that could have been saved had the majority agreed to [45:55] this the levy would have gone from the 4.8% down to [46:00] 3.93 which would have meant a difference of hundreds of dollars for some residents uh uh commissioner catchmark I [46:07] came here tonight to thank you uh for your due diligence and your effort to reduce the financial burden on your [46:14] constituents and your courage to vote no on the increase uh there seems to be this [46:21] pervasive myth that as long as the levy increase is less than inflation [46:26] or even below the tax capacity increase that adoption of that Levy is [46:32] an action worthy of Praise but using this as a measurement of success presumes that a tax increase [46:40] does not add to the financial burden of right County residents the truth is that real wages [46:45] are down and so your true measurement of success should be a reduction in the [46:51] levy because people have less income to spend and the money that they they have doesn't buy what it used [46:57] to what I would respectfully request of you uh commissioner catchmark is that [47:03] when it comes time to vote on this that you do make a formal motion to reduce the levy so that the residents of Wright [47:09] County may see on the record which Commissioners are uninterested in reducing the tax burden on their [47:15] constituents thank you all for your time thank you Ryan Mr chair Ryan uh [47:21] first thing I just want to point the point in that statement that is untrue is that if you lowered the levy by [47:27] $787,000 no one will see a $100 reduction in their property taxes uh [47:33] $787,000 in the reduction of the levy of n uh of our Levy would equate on average [47:39] to most homes uh a savings of less than $20 if even probably more like five or [47:45] $6 doar uh it just dilutes down that far uh so in order to see hundreds of [47:52] dollars of savings on any indiv any single property the county would have to [47:59] uh adopt a negative Levy uh to to accomplish that so I just want to make sure that we're not giving false [48:04] narratives that if a the County board made a reduction of $800,000 uh at the end of the day uh [48:11] most properties in right County would see a reduction on their property taxes of less than $20 and in lots of cases [48:18] probably less than $8 so in order to see substantial uh Cuts in the hundreds of [48:25] dollars we would be talking about needing to make uh Cuts in the four to five to6 million I was talking about the [48:33] difference to hundreds of dolls for some if you [48:39] went from a four so just just to clarify yeah I want [48:47] to make sure I'm not misquoted to go from 4.8 down to 3 to the 3.93 so even [48:53] going so one whole percent lowered in the levy is about a million do right yep [48:59] so $1 million cut from the budget would it triculate doubt to a house of [49:04] $425,000 it would save you about $8 so I'm talking about the difference between the two for some residents would have [49:11] been a difference of $100 they're still going to see a tax increase no when they they would they they literally if you're [49:17] paying $1,000 at 4.8 and you go to a 3.8 you are going to [49:23] pay uh nine $192 it'll only shaving a whole percent will likely save you [49:30] between eight and $16 it it literally a million dollar reduction doesn't save [49:36] you hundreds of dollars in what you pay just to be clear I'm not saying from the previous year saving hundreds of [49:43] dollars I'm talking just the difference between the two just this year just the differences between the increases in the [49:49] levy he's right Derek is right though yeah yeah you're only going to see a savings if we cut the levy if we go go [49:56] to a 3.8 Levy what you was on your proposed thing that you got your proposed statement in November 15th will [50:02] go down eight to16 if we we cut a million dollars to the budget so don't [50:08] be mistaken that if we make a cut of 800 900 or $1.2 million you're not going to [50:16] see a $100 savings it's just that that that isn't how it works in order to see $100 savings we have to adopt a negative [50:24] Levy we we we'd be having to talk about cutting four to6 [50:31] million so I just want to make sure that that that's understood Mr chair go ahead since I was [50:39] mentioned a couple times you thanks for coming in we haven't we didn't talk before but it's refreshing to hear your [50:46] comments uh we were all kind of asked from finance and others what's a [50:52] comfortable number for the levy that was hard for me cu because I wanted to go line by line and determine the want and [50:58] the need instead of pick an arbitrary number but when pushed the number I came [51:03] up with in the reason was from past Commissioners that said if the amount of [51:08] growth matches or as close to the amount of the levy the taxpayers will feel it less and we saw that earlier in the [51:15] presentation I believe that figure of 2.63% so that was my initial number was [51:22] close to that and the rest went up from there and we said on uh above five now [51:28] the 787 th000 those were staff new staff positions that in my mind weren't proven [51:34] the need uh a plus one pro service that was thrown in there so if you if you [51:40] look at it this way uh $1 million amounts to one percentage point so with [51:45] my figures of 787 if if the rest would have got along with that that would have [51:50] reduced it by almost 8/10 of 1% for those that that want to keep track and [51:57] look at it that way but uh so that was my reasoning for that and it's it's hard [52:02] to pick the numbers but the staff likes the numbers because they then can work their own budgets to figure are we above [52:09] or we below do we have to make more cut so a lot of jockeying around to get where where we're at but for the record [52:16] that was my explanation for what you pointed out as the why I voted the way I did thank you chman yes uh Brian as you [52:26] know too uh we just so you know that we [52:31] chopped at this thing for quite some time and we are wrestling with the same [52:36] thing you are that our our Sheriff's contract went up because we are had a a [52:42] point in time where we could not keep our deputies and so we had to increase [52:48] what we're paying our road deputies and then thus you're seeing the same thing [52:54] uh it's it's something that we we got hit with uh It's The Sign of the times [53:01] and you know that that added to it otherwise it probably wouldn't have been that [53:07] much come on up hi my name is Kimberly crack and I live in Nao Minnesota while [53:13] I do support the increase in the deputies and we have seen a significant increase in the last 18 years that I've [53:19] lived here in crime in our neighborhood alone I support that but there should be [53:26] a balance and accountability with um within right County I personally work for a county that's significantly larger [53:34] than right County our building we don't have nearly the size of buildings as this campus which then then [53:40] accountability goes to how much of these buildings sit vacant I know most of us [53:45] went and work at home we pay for our electricity we pay for our heat we pay for our internet we pay for our office [53:52] space and everything else so so I know there's full floors in these buildings [53:58] that now sit vacant they they do the people went home to work if you want I'm [54:05] more than welcome to set up a day with you and we can walk through this building I I I will you do it during the [54:10] business day I will walk you through these all the the whole campus I'll walk then I challenge you to look at other counties and what they're doing because [54:17] work from home is working really well and I work within the seven County Metro which much large and Progressive um [54:25] County than right County um so maybe you need to consider looking at those models and saving on heat and lighting and [54:31] everything else that goes with staff being within your building we do have a number of stuff that work remotely as well that was taken into account into [54:38] into this building as well uh and and we're and we're growing and adding more [54:43] people working from home so believe it or not there there this building isn't [54:49] as vacant as you may think and the the one area of it we built because we built this building to be a a [54:55] a 50 hundred year old building that we don't have to add on to it we have some shelled space that is that's vacant but [55:01] it's shelled we're not heating it we're not doing anything it's just sheld space so that we're not adding onto this building in 10 20 years because that [55:09] would be a travesty as well okay and that and I can understand that too because the levies go for so long you [55:15] don't have to ask for more because the levy is out there for 20 25 years to pay for what was already built and building [55:22] costs are lower earlier they get more expensive as we go um but you did say [55:29] that for our $500,000 home it was only a 1.25% tax taxable rate I look here uh a [55:38] residential uh Homestead at home yep it's 1.25 or 500 or above okay mine's [55:45] 3% uh have it right here I did the math that wouldn't be the um% what did [55:52] your valuation the valuation my valuation is going up 82,800 between today and January 1st my [56:00] property value didn't go up the valuation is significantly high now I know this meeting is not for that but [56:06] the thing is is the deception to the residents of right County if we feel [56:12] deceived I don't I don't mind the six I know those numbers that don't you know like it's only $6 I don't that's not [56:19] even a blink of an eye to me um when my valuation was absurd increase when I [56:26] know I used to be in real estate um the market value there's arguments out there some say went down by 0.9% others say it [56:34] went up by 0.9% but when my valuation increases by 17.5% which I know I can't sell my home [56:41] for this value it's but what I'm getting at is this isn't a meeing about that you can't sell your home for that value [56:47] that's listed on there absolutely not then then I would strongly encourage you [56:52] to to come to the Board of Equalization then because there there has to be some articulable uh point to it that that [56:59] that's being taken into consideration that the value should be adjusted it should be adjust 82,000 on [57:05] basically a very basic home very like a quarter of an acre lot basic home um but [57:12] what I'm getting at about property values and that's not this meeting is that we want accountability if we feel decited [57:20] especially when we look at our values then we're not going to support anything else because because we feel like [57:25] there's deception within government we're going to hold everybody accountable and the little bit amount for the right [57:32] County which I probably support most of it but now I'm upset because my valuation is so incredibly out there I [57:38] don't trust anything about government here I want to question everything chairman you know Kim you're uh this [57:45] this is very frustrating and it is frustrating for a lot of people especially in Ado um adigo for some [57:52] reason has had valuations go up they built 260 homes last year and the [58:00] assessor I talked with me yesterday said it we're not seeing that growth in any other uh area of the county as much as [58:07] oo and St Michael and property just went uh was sold in anigo a 40 40 acre plot [58:16] went for 50,000 an acre so then you just got to take in accountability that in [58:21] one year after their closing all those people now become taxpayers so consider [58:27] lowering the levy because they're all going to be paying you taxes here in a couple years but what I'm saying is that [58:33] okay so the state of Minnesota dict di dictates that we we value the home by [58:40] property values so if you had people in your neighborhood like the assessor [58:45] always says encourage your neighbors not to sell their house for so much because it basically goes at market value well [58:53] that's not and it used to go it used to be assessed value and then market value but now it is just market value that is [59:00] state that is State guidelines that they have to it's state statute and so I I I [59:07] would encourage you to go talk to the assessor he actually grew up in oo uh [59:13] understands the you know oo is seeing a big big boom I think a lot of it has to [59:19] do with the better access on 101 uh it's attractive because it's close to the City uh there's a lot of [59:26] people moving in and and and then two R county is the fastest growing County in [59:34] Minnesota right now and we are bursting at the seams and we have people working [59:40] from home and I understand that um but it goes back to that assessor in the [59:46] valuation i i w i was a realtor for 10 years I was a law enforcement officer I [59:51] worked for the county now I've done a lot of different things I can watch my the home values in my neighborhood and [59:56] what they how long they've been on the market if they've been on the market three four five months now and what their actual sale prices I I can watch [1:00:04] and observe what's going on but it goes back to accountability at this point [1:00:09] you're losing other than maybe Mike but um you're losing our trust if you guys [1:00:16] don't want to hold your assessor accountable then I don't feel like the [1:00:21] residents want to keep paying for that and then when you do it per resident like you said it would be really [1:00:27] difficult to divide this out by per taxpayers taxpayers only care what the budget comes down to per [1:00:34] taxpayer they don't care what it comes down back down to for all the people that aren't paying the taxes so Kim [1:00:40] really I'm I think two separate things here one being your property yourself I [1:00:46] am I willing to hold the assessor accountable yes but I this is the first [1:00:51] I've known you in your situation I can't comment on what may or may not be taking [1:00:56] place on your property am I willing to have conversations about you about that yes now separately uh as a commissioner [1:01:05] in dealing with the budget I need to make thoughtful decisions I need to make decisions based not just on cutting [1:01:12] expenses just purely for the sake of cutting expenses now when looking at the two commissioner cat Mark's point I will [1:01:17] put the Counterpoint to why four of us voted differently on that and that was largely because of the expenses that [1:01:23] were related around these other employees and the fact of services that were not being met and the risks that we [1:01:29] had by not doing that one of them was men Choice assessments and another one of them was the fact that if we don't [1:01:36] meet these requirements that we are about our eligibility Specialists and not adding those positions the risks and [1:01:42] fines that we have for not doing that as well as the fact that we're paying overtime and with our finance department [1:01:47] we are paying excess amount of overtime to the point that it actually made more sense to hire an employee versus in [1:01:53] reducing some of those expenses from an overtime perspective it was it's not just as [1:01:59] simple it was black and white and that's where the fact that some of those numbers were actually going up [1:02:05] exponentially we're trying to look at the the solving the problem so I have a solution for some of that because I do [1:02:10] work with men choices an eligibility specialist um there's no accountability the case managers literally can put [1:02:17] whatever value into those um waivers that the that [1:02:25] the case manager and the individual wanted to add for fees there so if I go on a cdcs waiver which is a budget [1:02:31] managed waiver um then it then the county and the state puts a limit they say this amount I have seen so much [1:02:40] fraud I I'm not going to deny that fact that that so you can keep hiring them but if there's going to be fraud out [1:02:46] there in the men choices and the waivers I I see I I personally have seen one [1:02:52] person on a waiver is 700 $100,000 a year but it doesn't preclude us from [1:02:57] meeting the state mandate let me tell you right county is one of the most fiscally conservative Health and Human [1:03:02] Services in the state of Minnesota our our case loads are almost twice that of [1:03:08] our comparable counties we have some very dedicated workers and we do not add staff to our health and human services [1:03:13] lightly we actually to the point where I would almost borderline say that we almost overwork some of our health and [1:03:19] human services staff because we are that tight on it uh and so that's where I say [1:03:26] we we actually one of our things that we've did this last year is we're actually bringing a fraud investigator [1:03:33] internally because we want to be that diligent making sure that state funds are being spent appropriately we are on [1:03:40] the other side of the spectrum from a lot of our peers across the state of Minnesota well I do 100% agree with that [1:03:46] because I work with them and you as well as us we're all overworked and what is [1:03:51] accountable to me to accomplish I agree with that you need to add more but we have to find a balance somewhere I and I [1:03:59] get it and I I Kim really I would love to sit down and look and see what's going on with your property because if you're having a 100% increase there's [1:04:06] more than the county budget is not driving that 100% increase there has to be other factors that are happening on [1:04:12] your property tax statement that are affecting it to that degree Mr chair yes since Kim mentioned [1:04:19] me once and I thank you I gotta maybe trust out of you so I appreciate [1:04:25] that um as far and you mentioned this a couple times the work from home deal we had a the previous board had to go over [1:04:31] the work from home and policy and that whole thing I actually voted against it I ran it past a lot of constituents and [1:04:37] a question that came up is uh is this compound cleaned heated and cooled [1:04:43] whether the people are working here or not and the answer is yes just the cleaning contract for the compound is [1:04:49] over $700,000 a year and uh it was suggested that maybe the pay be adjusted [1:04:55] for the folks that work from home because the county is expected to pay all these utilities and services plus [1:05:02] the full wage for the person that's working comfortably from home so it was addressed it was talked about but the [1:05:08] consensus was to not um adjust from what it is now so I I wanted to bring that up [1:05:14] because there's a lot of money on the table that can be reflected in the budget thank you thank you but uh [1:05:22] Kimberly I whether after this meeting or at another time I am happy to help you work through your property tax statement [1:05:29] and see what if there's other things going on there that maybe we can if there if there was an error I want to [1:05:34] hold people accountable I want to get that right because I don't want to lose your trust on that piece and to me I [1:05:39] have a lot more concerns because the levy alone wouldn't drive you to have [1:05:44] 100% increase right right well I didn't say 100% oh sorry or [1:05:51] 17.3% 17.8% on my property value but or property value okay your pay increase [1:05:57] was okay you said on a $500,000 home my house isn't a $500,000 home but it's now [1:06:02] assessed over that now um but you said it was 1.25% minus 3% well the 3% I I [1:06:09] mean it's just right County Line when is going up three yeah but that's not when I say 1.25% that's your tax [1:06:17] classification rate so when calculating property taxes you have to take your [1:06:23] prop property value times your classification rate to equal your share [1:06:30] of the capacity and then you take your share of the capacity and that's divided [1:06:35] out with the levy to tell you what the tax rate is and what your pay amount is so there is it's a it's kind of a [1:06:41] complicated formula and I I should have put that slide in there so I I can print this out for you this is kind of I can [1:06:48] take a look at that and I missed the beginning of the meeting that's part of my fault yeah no that slide wasn't in the presentation and I I I'm going I [1:06:55] just remembered that oversight that I'll make sure that we get that in there in the future so that way you have an understanding of so that 3% is just what [1:07:02] your increas is on your your your county share well I support right County just [1:07:08] be very cognizant of the needs versus the wants um and holding that assessor [1:07:14] accountable I I appreciate it thanks Kimberly anyone else like to [1:07:22] comment and come on [1:07:28] up hi uh my name is uh Irv Walkman and we [1:07:34] have a mini storage property in uh montro and I understand this is not [1:07:40] perhaps the correct place to be talking about the taxation rate I heard you say earlier that the tax rate on commercial [1:07:48] property was 2% uh we have a mini star it's a mom my [1:07:53] wife and I have have had it for probably 15 years we got maybe about 50 50 rental [1:07:59] units that we get $100 or less per month for these things so our gross take on [1:08:05] this for our taxes about 42,000 a year our taxes last year were [1:08:12] 177,000 and we just got the new notice they're going to over 23,000 uh we haven't been able to raise [1:08:19] our rates uh you know to remain competitive with other operations in the county and I'm just wondering is there [1:08:26] do you have a special uh thing going on with Mini Storages in particular because [1:08:31] our assessed value and our property taxes both went up 35% or they're proposed to for 2024 and I I you know I [1:08:41] mean then you get a renter that doesn't pay for six or eight months you got to kick them out and you got to go get a [1:08:46] dumpster for $500 I mean it's ludicrous it's a it's I mean so to try and op and we're do the [1:08:52] way we see it we're doing a service for the community giving them a place to store their stuff you know and trying to [1:08:58] keep the rent down and everything but the taxes are I mean over half of our revenue and it's I guess I'll have to [1:09:05] talk to the assessor about it but long as I was here I just wanted to bring it to your attention and I will absolutely I'm the [1:09:13] first person you know before we met with you guys here today we had meeting with our legislators and I cried foul as I do [1:09:20] every year with the legislators about the issues with the property tax system [1:09:25] and the inequities that it has and it is the only mechanism that they give local [1:09:31] government for raising funds and yet they pass many mandates most of the [1:09:36] things we do here at the county are all mandated services and they tell you well you need to do this and here's your [1:09:42] mechanism to get it property taxes and I it it's broken right now and it's [1:09:48] getting magnified uh does that solve your problem immediately here no no uh [1:09:54] what I'm suspecting is probably happening is that your commercial property is cuz anything a commercial [1:10:02] property that's over 150,000 gets taxed at a at the at the higher rate so so [1:10:09] it's not 2% excuse me not CU 2% so you're at one and a half 150,000 and [1:10:15] below is at one and a half percent and then every dollar that you go beyond the 150,000 you're now taxed at the 2% [1:10:22] classification rate and so every year now that you're seeing any more increases because it's going to jump [1:10:28] exponentially because every dollar increase in your value is now at this 2% rate vers in the past it was at that one [1:10:34] and a half so that is one of the struggles that you're having with it um [1:10:39] well that's why I excuse me that's why I asked specifically about many storage is because uh our rate is not 2% if you [1:10:46] figure it out our uh new appraised value was 84,000 so our taxes according to that [1:10:53] should be about6 161 but they're going to be 23 between 23 and [1:10:58] 24,000 I mean it's just it's inconceivable that we can pay this type of taxes you know I mean our revenues [1:11:05] can't go up you know and I certainly can't put up any more buildings we have three small building can't do any of it [1:11:11] I mean as a business proposition because of the taxation uh being the level it is I mean [1:11:17] we can't even contemplate that you know then you throw in a mortgage on top of it and uh it's just uh you know it's [1:11:25] undoable so this year is the wonderful complex tax classification rates in the [1:11:32] state of Minnesota and I know there isn't any kind of exemptions for storage facilities or or separate [1:11:39] classifications so we're kind of handcuffed here at the county on on this based on state [1:11:45] legislation I for you get something changed the legislator would have to create a new classification for storage [1:11:52] units or or something of that nature well let me ask you this would it [1:11:58] do me any good to talk to the assessor his his hands are probably going to be pretty handcuffed because [1:12:04] he's going to pull up for you that what comparables he used to come up with the determining the value of your property [1:12:10] and I I don't think your argument is whether your property is worth 7 to 800,000 it's about more about what you [1:12:15] have to pay and that's that's more of an issue relative to to to revenue to [1:12:20] revenue yes what bus can suffer 60% taxation on the revenue and that's where [1:12:26] the issue where the state property tax system is broken because it doesn't take into the ability of a business's ability [1:12:32] to cash flow it just bases it on the asset itself so yes the property might [1:12:38] be worth 800,000 but it's not able to cash flow a $117,000 a year property tax I I was in [1:12:44] a business that was in the same industry I had a a restaurant that I was paying over $60,000 a year in property tax my [1:12:51] business was complicated to be able to cash flow a $5,000 a month uh property tax in in because this property tax [1:12:59] system doesn't have a mechanism to take a revenue based approach I it will [1:13:05] slowly businesses like yours out of business the the legislator needs to [1:13:10] take action I will wholeheartedly agree but it's not a tool that we have here to do that very good thanks for your time [1:13:18] thanks IR tax out of the bus [1:13:23] I'm with you and I'm happy to put you in connection with some some good legislators that I'm trying to get their ear on because something has to happen I [1:13:31] I pounded my fist in a room here before so the property tax bill comes from right [1:13:37] County pardon me the property tax bill comes from right counter isn't that [1:13:43] funny how that works too that's they you get to be the bad guys they tell us what we have to do we get to charge you for [1:13:49] it and we don't have an option but to do it and and and this is the only way we can get the funds to do it is under [1:13:56] their rules it's [1:14:01] sad anyone else like to comment for the record yes Lane you want to make another [1:14:07] comment for before is there anybody else beforehand is this our last one because [1:14:12] I we're going to close it up here if Lane anybody else wanted to comment for the record Lane I'll give you a a a [1:14:18] short three more minutes here three minutes about three four minutes we're TR to keep it fair I think you had [1:14:25] a limit on how much time you could spend up there that's my understanding of TNT meetings well we've given you more than [1:14:31] that already but I'm not I'll new to it as long as we're on the budget we're good L we're good I understand so so if [1:14:37] if you can help me with this because I've always been a little confused in most uh situations most uh taxing [1:14:44] entities when the tax capacity growth continues to increase like it is in Wright County it says 17.31 if I'm to [1:14:51] believe that right um tremendous growth right a lot of new properties on the on [1:14:56] there whether it be primarily residential some commercial but mostly residential right I'm a little confused [1:15:02] why because people have always said if your growth is like it is like that you're advertising that growth over that [1:15:09] and your taxes overall should stay flat can you comment on that I will so [1:15:16] what's happening here is that the increase there's bigger increases in values on residential than that in [1:15:22] commercial so that that is dring out the the growth of new construction new construction was only 2.63 we didn't [1:15:29] have an exponential amount of new construction growth the most of the growth that you see that 17.3 is just a shift in value [1:15:39] of residential property and that that that so yes it says we have a lot of of [1:15:44] New Growth new value new capacity but only 14.5% of that is actual or 14.5 of that [1:15:54] is just increased values and now you look at that number most the the [1:16:01] commercial and Industrial didn't have nearly that growth and so then it's a [1:16:06] shift then you're you're getting a bigger piece of the pie you're being responsible for paying more of the County's budget I realize that it [1:16:13] depends upon what your valuation is and whether you're paying more if your valuation is less than the average [1:16:18] you're paying less than the average person or you might go down so um [1:16:24] it's disturbing that you know the spending in the county continues to grow I understand the issue with sheriffs I [1:16:30] wouldn't want to be in the hennipen county uh certainly not the Minnesota Minneapolis City Council meetings [1:16:37] talking about Sheriff retention that's for sure but I have a hard time and this [1:16:43] goes back to the transparency issue some this is the county budget this is the only thing that I can look at when I [1:16:48] look at the website it's very hard to read this and I understand to some extent that it's difficult it's not like [1:16:54] the city of St Michael budget which is very easy to follow this has a lot of buckets and it's very difficult to [1:17:00] follow the buckets because I know there's shifts on things so I the only choice I have is to look at a couple [1:17:05] things and ask you questions okay so I realized the sheriff part is $4 million [1:17:12] additional expending I understand why um but I don't understand completely the [1:17:17] finance and taxpayer Services going from 3.6 to 6.0 [1:17:24] that is shift in where it was recognized elsewhere in the budget How would how would anybody unless you worked within [1:17:30] the County government system how would you know how to follow [1:17:36] things but that's okay how I mean I guess we could put a whole bunch of uh [1:17:42] uh Cliff Notes at the bottom of it but it would get to the point where it get it would be about a five-page cliff note [1:17:47] piece on the bottom of it and we'd have uh a one two three four five six seven different numbers on each line item that [1:17:54] is where you actually rely on your elected official to ask them questions with it and let me be able to explain it [1:18:01] to you how how would I know that I mean how would I how would I know which ones to look at because I don't even know [1:18:06] when this thing popped up on the on the right County web page that was in there in September [1:18:12] okay I me as me because I'm one of those weird people that like to look at budgets I would appreciate that I would [1:18:18] think it'd be easier to have a popcorn trail with those footnotes on things fair [1:18:25] enough it' just be hard to still where do we draw that line do we every dollar [1:18:30] that shifts where you have the fund shifts you need to keep track of them how would you know shifts I mean there's [1:18:35] shifts that are really small I mean do I do $10 you know I'm saying okay pick a parameter pick a parameter that a shift [1:18:42] of 10,000 50,000 100,000 so an another example is the fleet Department okay so [1:18:48] there was nothing in 2023 I'm assuming this is another shift or maybe there's something else we went to a centralized [1:18:53] Fleet Management and we pulled it up we used to budget all of our cars universally within each budget with each [1:18:59] within each department but to actually save on the purchasing of fleet vehicles we actually are now no longer budgeting [1:19:06] them uh individualized we're doing it holistically and actually saving us from having to purchase [1:19:12] cars and we're actually better able to have a universal policy on how we liquidate them and how we value them and [1:19:19] then a better accounting on the mileage for them as well from a a auditing perspective okay um obviously the social [1:19:27] services aspect is also increasing dramatically 15% for most of the most of [1:19:32] the buckets there I don't know what administration was before and where it went [1:19:37] to we Administration went within the Health and Human Services it moved it [1:19:42] was administration had it own po now between each of Public Health uh social [1:19:49] services and financial services we they broke it out into the three different pieces again one would never know that [1:19:54] unless you spend a lot of time talking to people do I want to bother the County Commissioners and maybe other people [1:20:00] asking the same question and this is a very it's hard [1:20:06] for I appreciate these comments because it's a discussion that we always have as to how much can you educate the public [1:20:13] on this information and what does that look like that we can make it in in a in a digestible form for you much less [1:20:20] anyone else uh you're pretty good study of the budget so I appreciate your perspective on it and because then even [1:20:27] other people out there if I put those cliff notes in there it's going to go I mean I have to look at it from the [1:20:34] 36,000 foot level not the 5,000 foot level where I really want to look at it [1:20:39] right that's the only comment I'll make on it sure the last thing is and I know it wasn't mentioned in Lee's uh [1:20:46] presentation all I've heard in the past in the presentations is that 85% of the budget is mandated by the state or the [1:20:52] Federal federal government or whatever else my question is how much of that within the mandated services or whatever [1:20:59] is spending on there how much flexibilities do the county have within the actual items that need to be [1:21:05] mandated need to be complied with how much flexibility in terms of priorities [1:21:10] Staffing spending all of that sort of stuff so there's a there's a depending on what area and what mandate Health and [1:21:17] Human Services they there's there's a pretty hard line on a lot of the items is that uh like lot of Home placements [1:21:23] you have a certain period of time and then you get yourself put on uh performance Improvement plans of the [1:21:29] state and then at a certain point you start leveraging yourself uh penalties for it or you get reduced uh state and [1:21:36] federal aid so the there that's from my health and human services perspective but then there's also uh some of the [1:21:42] mandates from you're mandated to plow the roads okay that one's a pretty gray area right [1:21:48] we we have some subjective uh as to how often we plow but that's largely driven [1:21:55] by uh my citizen complaints more often than not I get people that call me and [1:22:02] complain that the roads aren't plowed soon enough I rarely get anybody that says I really wish they didn't drive the [1:22:07] plow in front of my house this morning uh it's it's a safety Factor pick a [1:22:13] different bucket than that that's not quite a fair comparison okay so uh [1:22:18] that's I'm trying to think of some of the different mandates off top Parks Parks not mandated that's right it's not mandated so um just figureo ones that [1:22:26] are mandated Services would be veteran services okay you you you [1:22:34] have a area that I don't that's probably not even a good comparison [1:22:42] so tax well you know elections cost us money that's how elections are mandated [1:22:48] but you don't have much choice on how you operate them those are that's another one you don't it's very defined [1:22:53] a lot of things that we do that are mandated are very defined in scope [1:22:59] uh because like from a law enforcement perspective I mean you have you you have the ability okay yes we have to respond [1:23:06] to a 911 call how much time what's reasonable is it is is it is it 10 [1:23:13] minutes is it 30 minutes that's I mean that same with [1:23:18] like people keeping people in your jail you you the thing you should be really kind of upset about is the amount of [1:23:26] money that we collect for the people that are incarcerated here in Ray County I mean the collection side of it is is pretty poor because most of people that [1:23:32] get locked up we end up having to write that off and that's your money that's that's local tax dollars that's not [1:23:38] state funded money that's your money and that's money that that you should be upset about of course I am and then the [1:23:44] other thing is out of home placements do you realize that that is a seven figure expense in right County for a of Home [1:23:50] placements and almost well over 50% of that is local money and it's driven by [1:23:56] less than 100 people 100 people are costing you seven figures and you're and [1:24:03] and over 50% of it is coming from your property taxes those are the things and [1:24:09] we have we're mandated we have to do this if they need a place to stay we have to put them in a place to stay and [1:24:16] the state's going to give us 40 45 cents if we're lucky on the dollar and see this is the type of discuss that I think [1:24:23] is relevant for the public that live in Wright County to understand what's [1:24:28] happening so they understand when they get their property tax statement that their property taxes for right County [1:24:33] just went up 10% or 100% or whatever it is they don't understand that how do you and how do you explain [1:24:41] that to the people um the type of examples you're talking about here why it is that's happening because you're [1:24:46] not getting it from whatever you're seeing elsewhere well I appreciate the feedback because I mean we want to do a [1:24:51] better job job and conveying and I'm just listenting those because those are two of the big expenses that we've had here in the county is is our our jail [1:25:00] expenses and then our expenses that are related to out of home placements is one of our biggest increases in Health and [1:25:05] Human Services this year and it's it's sad because that is your local money that very few handful of people are are [1:25:12] are driving right and until we can get a hold on mental health and get places for [1:25:17] people to stay it's going to keep costing us more money because nobody there's no place for us to get them and [1:25:22] the few places that take them charge astronomical amounts of money and we have no choice but to pay [1:25:30] it understood so thank you for your time and again thank you for allowing to ask questions um I would like to I going to [1:25:37] talk to na Dean later on like to talk to you in a separate meeting at some point always vain appreciate it thank [1:25:44] you f come on [1:25:51] up uh James vanderin uh city of monel um yeah this is tough stuff this [1:25:59] is tough stuff I've talked to Dereck a few times about things going on um lived [1:26:04] in Monella for 16 years um so what what are some of I [1:26:11] don't know if we can recap it quickly what are some of the big things that have been cut out of the budget to get [1:26:17] it down to this like 4.8% you guys want to go or want me pick [1:26:22] the top the three biggest Mr chair go ahead I got one thing when they were [1:26:28] when the Departments and officers were asked to make Cuts one office instead [1:26:35] changed their revenue by a million dollars on paper they plan or intend to [1:26:43] make an extra million dollars but what does that look like if they don't make it yeah that reduces the levy on paper [1:26:51] by a million bucks but that might be one of the biggest and and it was out of County Jail prisoner [1:27:00] fees that other counties bring their prisoners here and we collect but that's probably the one biggest thing change [1:27:07] that I can think of when that reduction process got underway that last time and [1:27:12] we got it back that was a million dollar turnaround maybe someone else that dropped it a million dollars [1:27:18] yes you wanted one big one that's one yeah so that was this year y right yep [1:27:24] we actualized a a million doll uh increase in revenue from boarding prisoners uh one the two factors uh two [1:27:32] factors is that we made some changes in our uh employment contracts that were able to get us uh employees where our [1:27:39] competitors that are in the uh Corrections industry were challenged to [1:27:44] be able to get fully staffed uh so us being able to open up another pod uh was [1:27:50] allowed us to be able to take in prisoners from Benton County uh Sterns County and subsequent other counties as [1:27:57] well as the state doc and we were able to also on top of that increase our rate [1:28:02] because there is uh such a challenge to get Corrections Officers so this number [1:28:08] wasn't just thrown out there on on a whim we we already had the the people and we already had the revenue trending [1:28:15] at that so we just actualized what we were intending to get based on current Revenue stream and Mr chair but I think [1:28:22] we're talking about two things though one is actualizing and one is intending and that's different there's still the [1:28:27] speculation piece so stay tuned and check back middle of next year and see how close we got okay I guess maybe the [1:28:34] others can think of two other big reduction pieces I don't know Mr chair we had what was the we when we so we we [1:28:42] spent hours going line by line um just really pouring through uh our staff we [1:28:49] told them you know a number and then you know they came back very Thrifty we [1:28:56] didn't like the number so we made them all go back and just say see if you can s at at it again and it was at 8% and we [1:29:06] had it we then we swiped it down to the 4.8 and we were comfortable with that because we knew the cities were going to [1:29:12] take a big hit especially with our law enforcement uh contract and so and you know we we [1:29:23] we're at a point too where you know we had to be comfortable with you know if [1:29:28] you stress the staff too much they quit and you know we don't we we wanted to [1:29:34] make sure that we weren't cutting too much so that they get so overbear over [1:29:40] um burdened with uh overtime that they decide they'll go to another County you [1:29:47] know so I I was really proud of our staff for going in and taking another [1:29:53] swipe at it I know that was really hard for them uh they weren't happy with us at all but I think for um for me I feel [1:30:03] really good about it uh and I think the rest of us are really proud of our staff for that so some of our cuts that we [1:30:10] made uh we made a a substantial amount of savings in uh sorry the Fleet Management that that [1:30:18] going to the Fleet Management saved a substantial amount of money uh as as well as we made a some reductions in [1:30:24] fuel cost as well uh we made some reductions in overtime costs across the county [1:30:30] um just we kind of pulling up some of my other notes Here on some of the P some of the changes within the budget [1:30:37] but some of the other ones we had some savings within Health and Human Services uh that were around the um Min choices [1:30:45] and wavered services but those all got absorbed up by increases in out of home placement so we saved in one area only [1:30:51] have to increase in another so it was uh Rob Peter to pay Paul on that point of [1:30:57] it um some of the but the biggest thing that drove in the budget on this one we couldn't make enough cuts for the The [1:31:03] increased law enforcement costes from from uh labor perspective on that that [1:31:09] was one of the bigger pieces that challenged us oh you have the you want to talk these off naen some of these [1:31:15] other ones you had your sheet sure so some of them that I know that and like Genie [1:31:22] said we worked um several hours weeks hours turned into days turned into weeks [1:31:28] and I I I really do feel like we did a really good job um not saying that we [1:31:33] can't even do a better job next year I we are holding very high high standards to ourselves um things that get mandated [1:31:42] um through the state are some of our Appropriations that we had to we made our Appropriations look into what they [1:31:49] were doing what they were spending their money money on so we made other people look at their budgets as well and again [1:31:56] those are mandated so we had to we have to do something for them again we made [1:32:03] them relook at them and then we made made them relook at them again so we we [1:32:09] probably weren't the most favorable by some of these people so I really do feel [1:32:14] that we did cut the line on three really big Appropriations and I appreciate their work on it and looking at their [1:32:21] their schedule as well um what other ones here well because you made the [1:32:26] Historical Society you've listed those all the right County Economic Development partnership you made a big reductions on both of them I mean those [1:32:33] reductions to them were reductions in the double digits not just a five% they were upwards of 15 20% reductions in [1:32:40] their budget that they're actually having to make some huge substantial discussions on how they operate um but [1:32:47] the biggest thing that I want James and you know this from I've told you this many times in our conversation I don't want to save you $10 today only to grab [1:32:55] $30 tomorrow because so I'm looking at sustainability in your property taxes [1:33:01] and as You' seen from the County's perspective in in relations to our corts [1:33:06] the County's proportion is is is small and incremental changes to it and I want to [1:33:13] keep it at that even less and we're working our way there and we've made great decisions that have gotten us to [1:33:19] the point where we're at now uh we were able to actualize over a half a million dollars more on investment income [1:33:25] because we're leveraging more of our money by understanding our cash flow and being able to invest more of our money [1:33:31] to get a greater return on your dollars to offset your property taxes is a lot of it's about being better management [1:33:40] managers of the money at this point because right county is so lean if you look at right county has the least in [1:33:47] number of per capita employees per citizen to any other county in the state of Minnesota M when you factor in the [1:33:53] fact that we have contracted law enforcement so you factor that in we have the least number of employees in in [1:33:59] some cases almost on a two to one comparable so and that that's the truth [1:34:04] in the pudding so when you're already the leanest in the state on a per capita for employees to uh citizens and this is [1:34:12] County government is is a service- driven industry Personnel costs are the biggest expense in any County across the [1:34:19] street bar none we have to then we don't have a lot of other cuts that we can [1:34:24] make so we're already as lean as we can be so we're trying to to talk about I [1:34:30] want to talk about public sure sector staff at some point here because that seems to be a big big part of well [1:34:37] things it's like 80% probably yeah so um because yeah I'm going to some of these [1:34:42] meetings I mean um you know my city Side city tax [1:34:48] has gone up like 15% um School District's gone up like [1:34:54] 133% I mean there's been like 25% almost [1:34:59] increase in the last couple years if I keep going down the road here so I mean [1:35:05] you guys have to keep that in mind that there's massive increases going on with your cohorts and you got to keep that in [1:35:11] mind and you probably have I know you've spent hours and hours and and whatnot but you got to keep that in mind because [1:35:17] I mean I won't be happy until I see through every sector only a 1 to 2% [1:35:23] increase that's all I ever want to see and I'm going to probably start coming to these meetings every year and [1:35:28] shooting for that um just because we are over taxed I mean every everybody knows [1:35:33] that I mean um but with staff and this is a real tender subject that I'm just [1:35:40] kind of continuing to to discover um because a lot of these costs are are are [1:35:46] caught up with staff and I mean there's some public sector staff that make huge salaries that I don't agree with so as [1:35:55] far as looking at some of that I mean what what staff and right County what [1:36:02] percentage roughly I don't know if this is impossible number is mandated to have would you say the staff are [1:36:11] mandated by the state to have they don't mandate the number of Staff they mandate case loads they mandate uh response [1:36:19] times or mandate things that we have to do they don't always give us a a Target exactly than it like from a a 911 [1:36:26] dispatch they don't tell us how many times it has to Ring to answer they come call we just have to have somebody to answer the call so what's reasonable 50 [1:36:34] Rings five rings you know so we have to staff it based on what what's the call [1:36:41] demand and that's how that one's determined but from a Min Choice assessment to a a ma uh eligibility [1:36:51] application it's based on meeting a Time factor from when the person applies we [1:36:57] have X number of days to get that application processed and that's what [1:37:02] drives the number of employees that we have for it so all of them have different metrics for it there's no [1:37:08] magic number that your cop population is 142,000 you need to have X number of employees that's not it so there but I [1:37:13] mean there is some there's some mandates though for like police or different things isn't there some mandates no no [1:37:20] there's no they're mandated to like from a city is required to have a and I don't [1:37:27] know the statute on it to have a law enforcement prese uh presence okay in [1:37:33] right County like monello where we live that requ contract yep so they contract with Ray County for that service okay [1:37:40] and but it doesn't tell Ray County cut their public sector staff in half [1:37:46] nothing would happen no you would depends on what we [1:37:52] would something happen from the state level yes okay because a certain moment of them they'll do the work for us then [1:37:58] and then they will charge us exponential to do that same uh Min Choice assessment [1:38:04] is going to cost you three times more so you would have been better off having the employee they're just going to do it so then in this case if you didn't do [1:38:10] that men Choice assessment the state will do it they'll charge you twice the rate and that person's going to be [1:38:15] having to wait a really long time to get it so so then you're a double losing you're getting bad service and you're [1:38:21] paying three times the rate for it so you don't want that either mhm okay all [1:38:27] right well just just some things to look at with our staff and I know you're saying that we're lean but watching [1:38:33] overtime watching massive what you know massive salaries and then I know a big [1:38:38] one is is the Union Union costs you know and how high those go up and uh that's a [1:38:46] tender subject but it's a big deal um the public sector is so unionized it's [1:38:52] ridiculous and uh I don't know what can be done there but be strong with that one um any comments on that I mean we're [1:39:02] we're we're I'm going to say we're close to probably 70% of employees of the 800 [1:39:08] staff in the county are belong to some Union of some capacity if not makes it tough it makes it tough and especially [1:39:15] uh two of those unions have binding arbitration so at this state point it's not even a [1:39:22] a strike part it's it's a arbitrary an arbitrator is going to decide you want [1:39:27] this they want this you get this so it's not even a situation where even if we [1:39:34] couldn't afford it we can't hold out a third part is going to determine what [1:39:39] you get and chairman we also uh have to deal with uh um Equity so yeah so Baker [1:39:48] Tilly just had to do a a comp study to make sure that one Department isn't [1:39:54] getting paid more than another department a woman's not getting paid less than a man you know so there's so [1:40:01] many things that are coming at us and yeah very frustrating um you know our [1:40:08] assessor this year we had to add an assessor because Karina Township decided [1:40:14] not to uh to that assessor retired or left so then our our [1:40:21] already uh heavily used assessor's office um was scrambling because it [1:40:28] happened right when they were you know the busy season of summer so we had to hire somebody you know just because [1:40:34] there's just so many properties that they had to go and assess and and and so there's things like that yeah I mean [1:40:41] it's sad I mean I've worked in private business all my life and I mean I've seen job cuts and things happen and they [1:40:47] just put more work on you and that's just the way it is and it m M it's it can be like that in the public world too [1:40:54] yeah so um it's just the way it is um but I appreciate your time I know this [1:40:59] isn't easy so I appreciate everybody's time Derek I've appreciated all your time a lot you got you got my number you [1:41:06] know I yeah I know and I'll call it I appreciate it but keep working hard I mean everybody here would probably like [1:41:12] to see another cut of some sort let's take that 4.8 and get it down to [1:41:18] 4.2 and you know it all make makes a difference when we're seeing these massive increases in your cohorts yeah [1:41:25] it makes a difference so it's this is real money real [1:41:30] people okay dead serious thank you I appreciate it thank [1:41:37] you is there anyone else that' like to comment anyone else want to [1:41:44] comment anyone else want to comment hearing none uh at this time [1:41:49] we'll close the public hearing I appreciate everyone's time uh [1:41:56] the final Levy at this time will be adopted with any changes or as is on [1:42:02] December 19th I appreciate everyone for coming and uh have a great evening if [1:42:07] any of you have some questions about some of the assessed values I can take a stab at seeing if I can help answer some [1:42:13] of the questions based on my knowledge all right thank [1:42:19] you