A group of 23 people, comprised of elected officials, county department heads and staff, and members of the public, gathered at the courthouse November 28, 2011 to discuss the proposed county budget and levy. One theme of the evening was how the county would deal with continued uncertainty over federal and state funding and how long local citizens could pick up the tab for county services in light of decreasing tax dollars from outside.
According to county Auditor-Treasurer Braidy Powers, “While we may argue about the level of various services to be provided, it is clear that we need government to provide some services. … County commissioners are ultimately responsible for the county property tax levy, but discussions are constrained by state and federal laws and rules that mandate certain services.”
The county board has proposed a levy of $6,049,044 for 2012, an increase of 2.75 percent over this year’s levy. The county’s proposed budget for 2012 is $17,231,721. The county is expecting to receive just under $126,000 in state aid next year, which is almost a million dollars less than it received in 2002. The county’s share of levy dollars represented on individual property tax bills proposed for 2012 is about 51 percent.
The 2012 projected market value of all Cook County taxable properties is just under $1.7 billion, a decrease of over 7 percent from 2011.
Budget increases
Citizens at the meeting asked a few questions of the county board. Judy Motschenbacher wondered why the Planning and Zoning Department budget has been increasing when the building industry has fallen off significantly in recent years. Commissioner Jan Hall indicated that the department’s responsibility for oversight keeps increasing and that Planning & Zoning Director Tim Nelson and county advocacy groups have been lobbying the state to stop adding new rules. Commissioner Sue Hakes said she and the other commissioners protest requirements that are cumbersome and not applicable to conditions in Cook County.
Steve Carlson said his property tax bill is projected to increase 12 percent next year. These kinds of increases are unsustainable, he said. He expressed concern for fixedincome homesteaders and owners of “ma and pa” businesses.
“We’re all aware that the state and federal monies are going to quit coming in,” said Lloyd Speck. “I think it’s about time that we get prepared for this. …How much longer can the regular working man afford to live in Cook County – and senior citizens on fixed incomes?” He noted that the janitor at the Law Enforcement Center resigned. Is there some way a deputy could pick up a broom? he wondered.
Commissioner Hakes said the board went over department budget requests carefully and made cuts. “We feel the pain, too,” she said. The state has cut a lot of funding, she said, but the county board is trying to keep taxpayers from having to make up for those cuts.
Lake County’s population is much bigger than Cook County’s population, Speck said, but its budget is not proportionately bigger than Cook County’s. Commissioner Hakes responded by saying that certain services, such as snowplowing, must be provided even if this county has fewer people to pay for them.
1 percent project costs
Motschenbacher pointed out that the library’s proposed budget shows an increase of 4.9 percent over 2011. Commissioner Fritz Sobanja said they anticipate an increase in maintenance and operation costs at the library now that it has been expanded. Motschenbacher said she assumes the proposed community center would also bring additional maintenance and operation costs to taxpayers, and they might not be able to sustain those costs. “I don’t think this county can afford one more 5 percent increase,” she said. “Let’s be fiscally responsible.”
Steve Carlson said he was concerned that the 1 Percent Recreation and Infrastructure Tax won’t bring in enough revenue to cover the cost of the proposed projects, such as the library expansion and new community center. Auditor-Treasurer Braidy Powers said that the amount brought in per year by the former 1 percent hospital tax decreased 10 percent several years ago after the economy experienced its biggest drop since the Great Depression.
Creative solutions
John “Jake” Jacobsen said his property value has gone down 9 percent in the last couple of years while his tax bill has gone up 40 percent. He was concerned that the next generation won’t be able to live here. "Eventually, all we’re going to have in this county is a bunch of rich retired people," he said, “and a bunch of hungry timber wolves.” He hoped the county board could come up with some “out-of-the-box” solutions.
Motschenbacher offered an “out-ofthe box” idea, suggesting that Cedar Grove Business Park lots be given to each company that would commit to creating 10 new full-time jobs. Giving them the land would provide them with equity they could leverage in obtaining financing, she said.
Stan Tull said he has been attending county board meetings for a year and a half. A year ago, he said, he would have said he thought the county board was dysfunctional. Now, he thinks the community is dysfunctional because people with competing interests are not coming together. “I think as a community you’ve just got to get together before anything gets better,” he said. They should all be able to get together about once a year for a pig roast in a gravel pit, he said, and figure all this stuff out.
Getting the government to change the way it does things can be done, Commissioner Sobanja said, but it will take time. He commended Northeast Regional Corrections Center in Saginaw (outside of Duluth) for coming up with a creative way to lower costs: growing its own food.
“Thank you, everybody, for your questions,” Commissioner Hakes said at the end of the meeting. “I don’t think there was anyone here with any concerns that we don’t share.”
The county board anticipates voting on the 2012 budget and levy at its December 20 meeting.
Almost half of all property taxes
collected in Cook County are for
entities other than the county:
. Cook County Schools
. The City of Grand Marais
. Lutsen, Tofte, and Schroeder
townships
. North Shore Hospital
. The Cook County/Grand Marais
Economic Development
Authority
. Tofte/Schroeder
Sanitary Sewer District
. Arrowhead Regional
Development Council
. The State of Minnesota
The eight fire district assessments are collected as part of county, city, or township taxes.
Some of the non-mandated
programs that are slated to
receive support from the
county in 2012 are:
. Legal Aid
. Emergency medical
and rescue services
. Cook County Senior Center
. Violence Prevention Center
. Grand Marais Public Library
. Cook County, Schroeder Area and
Gunflint Trail historical societies
. Gunflint Hills Golf Course
. Cook County Soil & Water
Conservation District
. Minnesota Extension Service
. Cook County Agricultural Society
. Cook County Higher Education
. Birch Grove Foundation
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