Cook County commissioners approved a proposed tax of 19.9 percent for 2018 at their regular meeting Tuesday, September 19.
Commissioner Bobby Deschampe and commissioner Ginny Storlie voted against while commissioners Jan Sivertson, Heidi Doo-Kirk and Myron Bursheim voted for the proposed levy.
Commissioners can lower the levy, but not raise it above 19.9 percent. They will submit a final levy to the state by December 29.
The 2018 proposed property taxpayer levy, calculated at 14.9 percent, is $9,035,657. Last year it was $7,863,947.
Two people spoke at the start of the meeting, Jim Boyd, Cook County Chamber of Commerce director and Cook County Grand Marais EDA Director Mary Somnis.
Boyd said commissioners were faced with two options, to cut services or increase the levy. He acknowledged that for some a levy increase would be a burden but added the central question commissioners must answer, “How much must a community pay to take adequate care of our kids and our roads?” He also said Cook County had some of the lowest property taxes in the state.
Mary Somnis, EDA director, said the recent citizen taxpayer survey sent to some Cook County taxpayers didn’t go to all Cook County taxpayers, “so it just suggests to me that the survey results may or may not reflect the community at all.”
As to the levy, Somnis said, “I want you to set it as high as you need to, and get it over in one year.” Prolonging this over a three-year period may do more harm than good, she said, and then advised commissioners to “Rip off that bandage.”
For the past month or so commissioners were looking at a proposal to set the levy at 14.9 percent for 2018, with subsequent decreases of 13.9 percent and 12.9 percent over the next two years.
Before commissioners held the budget discussion, Scott Harrison presented the EDA budget request to the board. Harrison noted the EDA was asking for $360,260, which was $26,000 less than last year. However, two items fell under board scrutiny.
The first was a request for $100,000 that would be used for marketing and making the entry to the Superior National Golf Course more noticeable for people driving past Highway 61 as they pass the golf course.
Harrison said it was imperative to market the course. He noted that in the first part of this century, fewer people golfed and 1,500 golf courses went out of business.
“We’ve suffered in two ways,” Harrison said. “We are reflecting the national trend (fewer golfers), and four years ago we realized we didn’t invest enough in the golf course.”
That was fixed when the EDA spent several million to upgrade River 9 and fix or improve other areas of the 27-hole course.
Storlie said in light of the current levy requests, she wasn’t in favor of granting $100,000 to the EDA to be used for the golf course.
“Think of that as an investment, not an expense,” Harrison said.
But Deschampe said, “I think I have to agree with Commissioner Storlie.”
EDA board president Howard Hedstrom spoke, saying the $100,000 request wasn’t frivolous, adding that the $50,000 advertising budget for Superior National “hardly goes anywhere. We don’t want to be here next year because we don’t have the (golf) rounds to cover our debt.”
Next, Harrison said the EDA budget included a $25,000 line item for the Superior Cycling Association (SCA). Tim Kennedy, president of the SCA, came before the board and explained what that money would be used for.
“Right now we have about 10 miles of single track trails at Pincushion, and about 7-8 miles of single track at Britton Peak,” Kennedy said, adding that plans call for a 16-mile-long trail to connect the two mountain biking sites.
The estimated cost to build the connecting trail is $450,000, said Kennedy. Because the club is made up of volunteers, Kennedy stated they would like to secure funding to hire someone to work on behalf of the organization. That person would split time doing physical work on trails and spend time grant writing and grant administration.
“We expect that in the long run, this could benefit the county, benefit businesses if Cook County could become more of a destination for mountain biking and gravel (road) riding,” said Kennedy.
Deschampe asked Kennedy if the club had looked at getting financial help through the state’s trail grant in aid program.
“We’re not part of a state grant in aid system. It isn’t available to cycling groups,” Kennedy said.
Commissioner Bursheim supported giving the SCA money, “This has some real potential for good long-term results,” he said.
“Almost everybody on the EDA board supported this request,” added Doo-Kirk.
“I think it was everybody,” quipped Hedstrom.
Storlie asked if the club had thought about raising entry fees for bike races as a way to collect more money that could go towards trail maintenance. Kennedy replied this was something the club could discuss. But, he added, the $25,000 could be used to get the club’s goals off the ground and move towards a more self-sustaining position.
“Tim has been working on this for years,” said Commissioner Sivertson. “We have been moving from an economy that used to be based on wood products and fishing. Now it’s built on tourism… I think the EDA is doing great work. I appreciate this opportunity.”
Auditor/Treasurer Braidy Powers reminded commissioners that the EDA budget could go up or down before the final levy was set.
Sivertson made a motion seconded by Bursheim to approve the EDA budget of $360,290 with Doo-Kirk voting for and Deschampe and Storlie voting against.
Next, commissioners discussed a request from the Grand Marais Library for $11,000 over what they received last year. Powers said that because the library was asking for more than a five percent increase, the board had to discuss it. The additional funds were needed because of a rise in their health care insurance. The city of Grand Marais experienced a 29 percent hike in health insurance over last year. Commissioners agreed the library was used by the whole county and had little trouble approving the additional funds.
Cook County Administrator Jeff Cadwell presented commissioners with three budget proposals to pick from. When the budget was set last year $350,000 was still owed on two pieces of highway equipment and $150,000 was added in this year to cover the cost of calcium chloride for the gravel roads. Last year commissioners cut calcium chloride from the budget. That left a $550,000 hole to fill this year.
The budget said Cadwell, could be solved “by addressing our revenue problem or we can solve it by dealing with the number of programs that we are serving.
“To this point, I have not been directed to look at programs,” he added.
Levy Options
. Option A, like all of the plans, was for three years. It featured levies of 14.9 percent for 2018, 10.9 percent in 2019, and 9.9 percent in 2020.
“This plan allows us to keep our current level of programs and services,” said Cadwell. It would provide capital project capacity of $36,000,000 including $9,000,000 on cash and $27 million in bonds.
. Option B, called for a levy increase of 19.9 percent with subsequent increases of 5.9 percent for 2019 and 4.9 percent for 2020.
Again, this levy allows the county to keep the current level of programs and services and allows the county to increase to a full-time Veterans Service Officer. It also allows the county to add additional hours to Public Health and Human Services resulting in the equivalent of one and one-half workers.
This plan, said Cadwell, provides approximate capital project capacity of $20 million including no cash and $20 million in bonds.
. Option C called for a levy increase of 14.9 percent with a subsequent increase of 5.9 percent and 4.9 percent in 2019 and 2020. It would not allow for a full-time Veterans Service Officer but allowed for increasing PHHS staff by 1.5 FTE and keep current service levels. It would provide $13 million including no cash and $13 million for bonds.
Because the fund balance is in good shape, no money will have to be directed to it until 2021, said Cadwell.
After much discussion commissioners selected Option B.
Bursheim said when he was campaigning for commissioner he had run opposing levies of 19.9 percent but, “that was predicated on the board balancing the budget last year.”
Sivertson said the board was trying to become fiscally responsible, “make that longterm plan and balance the budget and alleviate the tax levy for constituents.”
Deschampe thought otherwise. “We’re still adding $240,000 to the highway department and adding $125,000 to EDA. We work for people who elected us, and it seems that we are going against them.”
Doo-Kirk said she could support Option B. In her time as a commissioner Doo- Kirk said she had seen the needs of the community “go up and up.” She cautioned against using the fund balance to lower the levy.
Storlie questioned setting a levy of 19.9 percent in light of possible problems that could occur next year that could negatively affect the county’s budget.
“I think we are using fear to guide us,” Sivertson said. “We are already in a terrible spot.” She advocated for a “serious, thoughtful approach,” to help come up with a plan, adding the board was trying to move the county forward towards security.
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