I have been waiting a long time to write this column. In October 2014, when I heard that the county was going to hold a public meeting to consider possible change to the county’s “Miscellaneous Fee Schedule,” I asked Auditor Braidy Powers for a list of the fees that were under consideration. I knew that Braidy would have the answer. He is the Cook County News-Herald’s go-to guy for all things financial regarding the county.
I also asked when the county would publish a list of what was proposed for change. Although I had never noticed such a posting in the legal notices, I assumed that this was a requirement. It seems that citizens should be informed and should have the right to comment on proposed increases to fees for county services.
I was startled to receive Braidy’s answer. He said the county has never posted a public notice to inform the public. He said he puts the matter on the county board agenda a few weeks in advance to let commissioners and county employees know that this is the time to propose changes— eliminations, reductions, and increases—for county fees.
In addition to being our go-to guy for answers, Braidy is just an all-around nice guy. After it was called to his attention, he agreed that this doesn’t quite seem fair, that the public doesn’t know what fees are being considered at the public hearing.
With a Cook County Fee Schedule that is 11 pages long with fees ranging from cigarette and liquor license fees for businesses, fees for certified tax searches, parking permits at the public landings the county operates, charges for copies, land use permit fees, fingerprinting fees, special event permit fees and much more, there is a potential that adding or increasing a fee could impact someone.
Braidy did a little research to make sure that the county was acting appropriately in setting the public hearing to consider fee changes without prior publication. They are. The matter is covered in Minnesota Statute 373.41 Miscellaneous Fees. The statute gives the county authority to “charge a fee to record, file, certify, or provide copies of any document, or paper that is required by law to be filed or which may be filed in any county office.”
And, the statute goes on to say the county board “may, after a public hearing, establish the amounts of fees to be charged for services, unless a statute has specified an amount.”
Although the statute states “there must be a reasonable relation between the fee and the cost of providing the service,” there is nothing in the statute that requires the county to announce the fees in advance of the discussion.
Citizens have gotten wind of the changing fees, like local abstractor Sue Goodell in 2002 who questioned an increase in the per copy rate at the County Recorder’s office. But had Goodell not been involved with the Recorder’s Office on an almost-daily basis, she would not have been aware that a change was in the works.
Examples of other fees discussed in the past are an increase of $50 to $60 for the blue emergency signs for driveways in 2004, which was subsequently increased to $75 in 2005. Also instituted in 2005 was a fee for chemical dependency assessment at $125 and several fees for civil process administration at the Sheriff ’s Department.
In 2006, after purchasing its first large format printer, the county instituted a printing fee of $5 per page. At the 2014 hearing to consider miscellaneous fees, that charge was changed to $2 per square foot of printed material.
In 2005 the Planning and Zoning Office enacted a charge for combining and/ or splitting tax parcels at $30 and $60, respectively. That too was changed in 2014, with some good news—that fee was eliminated.
I introduce these examples to demonstrate why I believe a list of potential fee changes should be published in advance of this public hearing. It is great that the public is invited to comment on proposed fee changes, but not if they are unaware that a change is being made that could impact them.
Not all of the changes are increases. In recent years the Auditor’s Office has done away with a number of fees that are no longer relevant. But when the fee for a public service is being increased, the public should know. I think it is time for an amendment to State Statute 373.41 Miscellaneous Fees, requiring the county to advertise any possible increases. If not in the News-Herald, at least on the county website. I’ll be mentioning it to our legislative representatives the next time I talk to them. If you feel the same, you should too.
In the meantime, the next public hearing to consider the county’s “Miscellaneous Fee Schedule” is Tuesday, January 26 at 10 a.m. in the commissioners’ room at the Cook County courthouse. Although the county is not mandated to announce in advance the fees that will be considered, Auditor Braidy Powers will likely have a list in advance. Give him a call.
That government is
the strongest of which every
man feels himself a part.
Thomas Jefferson
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