County Assessor Betty Schultz
New Assessor Betty Schultz has taken on an ambitious challenge. Under orders from the state, she and her staff will be assessing 20 percent of the county’s private properties— called a quintile— each year from here on forward. In addition to that, they will be collecting more detailed information on each property than was collected in the past and putting the data into a new software system. To accomplish all that, Schultz asked the county board on January 22 to consider adding a new staff position to her department.
“The full 20 percent quintile requirement has not been met for a number of years due to the Assessor’s Office workload and maintaining personnel to cover the office on a daily basis,” Schultz wrote in a January 22 memo to the board. “…The DOR [Department of Revenue] has agreed to only look forward in their audit of Cook County with the beginning of my time as county assessor, but a full quintile is required each year from this time forward.” Schultz explained that the department is required to physically inspect properties.
In regard to recording all this data, Schultz wrote, “The computer upgrade is to provide greatly enhanced uniformity in Cook County with the ultimate goal of a more detailed, equal assessment and equal treatment throughout the county. …Onsite assessments will involve the verification of all information on properties to insure the assessment records are accurate and complete. Some of the information confirmed during the review is size, quality, land type and condition of improvements.”
Assessor Schultz told the board that the person in the position she envisions would be putting data into the new computer system and handling the office so she and Assistant County Assessor Allison Lowe and Technical Clerk/Appraiser Cindi Crawford could all be out in the field in the warmer months of the year. Crawford would then be a full-time appraiser.
Commissioner Garry Gamble said that he talked to the assessor in Lake of the Woods and found out they started hiring a temporary employee from April through September while other staff were out in the field, a position that pays $12-14 an hour and has no benefits. He thought Lake of the Woods might also close its office at times during business hours when the staff was out. He said he wanted to be sensitive to what the department needed to get its work done but pointed out that the position Assessor Schultz was requesting was not in the budget.
Commissioner Bruce Martinson said part of the reason the department hasn’t been meeting its quintile requirement is that assessors Lowe and Crawford have been inspecting properties together. In order to cover more properties, they will be going out individually this year. The remoteness of some properties adds time to their work as well, Martinson said. He suggested that they look into whether an employee in another department would have time to work in the Assessor’s Office part-time.
When she was mayor of Grand Marais, Commissioner Sue Hakes said, she received a lot of calls when the Assessor’s Office starting closing over the lunch hour. Hakes, a former Cook County real estate agent, said she thinks the office gets a lot of walk-in traffic. She added that a person handling the office might need to be permanent rather than temporary because they would need to be trained in the new computer system.
“I’m very concerned about not meeting the quintile,” said Assessor Schultz. “That bothers me.”
Commissioner Hakes urged the board not to downplay the need for more help in the department.
Complying with the Department of Revenue is important, Commissioner Gamble said, but being fiscally responsible is important, too.
Schultz said she has been spending about half of her time helping the county board work with the U.S. Forest Service on a possible land exchange involving Cook County land in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The new computer system will require a new level of documentation, she added. “If we’re going through all this, it should be done right.”
Commissioner Heidi Doo-Kirk said she was concerned about spending unbudgeted money on a position that might not be needed once they get the new computer system in place. She also said she did not want to add to the taxpayer burden.
Commissioner Gamble said supporting what they have already approved –-the new computer system—is important and recommended that the board take more time to consider and discuss the issue.
Commissioner Hakes said it’s not fair to bring in a new person—Assessor Schultz— and then say, “Work a miracle, but we’re not going to give you the tools.”
Commissioner Gamble said he wanted to balance the needs of the department with fiscal responsibility and work cooperatively with Schultz and her staff. “My commitment is to support you and respect you,” he said.
Since Commissioner Jan Hall, the Assessor’s Office liaison, was not able to attend the meeting, the board decided to table the matter.
Community center bids
Commissioner Sue Hakes reported that bids were in for the next phase of construction on the Cook County Family YMCA. She said they came in over budget and the Community Center Steering Committee would be meeting to discuss revising the plans to stay within budget.
“I’m not going to beat around the bush,” Hakes said. “I think we’re going to have to make some tough decisions on Friday.”
Change orders
The board held a preliminary discussion on developing a policy allowing construction project change orders of under a certain amount to be authorized by the county auditor/treasurer. Auditor-Treasurer Braidy Powers said the Minnesota Department of Revenue has recommended that the county set this policy.
With the Cook County Family YMCA project, change orders of up to $10,000 have been reviewed by a construction committee consisting of current Community Center Director Diane Booth, ISD Superintendent Beth Schwarz, Commissioner Sue Hakes, Commissioner Heidi Doo-Kirk, Duluth Area YMCA Executive Director Chris Francis, and City Administrator Mike Roth and then turned over for signature by Auditor-Treasurer Braidy Powers, also on the committee.
Commissioner Gamble recommended that they decide on a procedure for handling change orders in the YMCA project while developing a broader policy. He pointed out that change orders could get really expensive unless they have a policy on how costs will be contained.
Commissioner Sue Hakes gave an example of a change order with the YMCA project. A suggestion was made to have the engineers examine the pilasters that were exposed in the West Wing of the school complex during demolition to make sure they were sound. She said this would cost a couple thousand dollars.
The board will discuss this further at a future meeting.
New fleet vehicles
The board authorized Maintenance Director Brian Silence to go out for bids on two new vehicles for the county’s fleet. One will be used by new Information Technology/ Radio Technician Rowan Watkins and the other will be used mainly by the Assessor’s Office in the warmer months now that they will be inspecting properties individually instead of together.
Silence said the fleet vehicle fund currently has about $108,000.
The board would need to approve any vehicle purchases once the bids are in.
Beargrease rescheduled
The board was informed that the John Beargrease Sled Dog Race from Duluth to Cook County and back has been rescheduled to March 10-13 because of lack of snow on the trails.
The race was originally scheduled for January 27-30.
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