Changes in county departmental procedures sometimes result in changes to county job descriptions and pay. Two county jobs were upgraded upon the recommendation of the Personnel Committee and the approval of the county board on Tuesday, April 26, 2011.
Because of increased complexity in the job of the chief deputy county recorder and registrar of titles – currently held by Holly Schroeder – the job was upgraded. A memo from Personnel Director Janet Simonen to the board states that the Recorder’s Office “now has certain responsibilities regarding vital statistics and passports in addition to its traditional real estate duties.”
The other job to be upgraded was that of the assessor’s technical clerk/appraiser, currently held by Cindy Crawford. County Assessor/Land Commissioner Mary Black had requested that this position be reviewed. Simonen indicated that the job involves more appraisal work and less clerical work than it used to, especially since the public can access a lot of property data via the Internet that it could once get only by requesting it from the Assessor’s Office.
The job upgrades will result in hourly pay raises of 14 and 23 cents an hour, a total cost to the county of about $800 a year. Commissioner Fritz Sobanja joked, “I actually paid for the difference myself with my real estate taxes going up!”
One job description that was updated but not upgraded after some reorganization in the Assessor’s Office was that of assistant county assessor, held currently by Allison Lowe.
The board also approved a job description passed on from the Personnel Committee for an assistant county engineer/ project manager, a new job category requested by Highway Engineer David Betts upon the retirement of Engineering Technician Bill Parish. The board approved the position in March.
The board appointed Engineer Betts to a four-year term as required by Minnesota Statute. This must be done in May when a previous term is expiring. Betts started last summer, and this will be his first full term. Commissioner Bruce Martinson said Betts has a very good working relationship with the people working under him. “I can’t say enough about the performance of David Betts,” Martinson said.
The board passed a motion authorizing the Auditor-Treasurer’s Office to advertise for a deputy auditor-treasurer/bookkeeper upon the resignation of Cheryl Walimaa.
On the Personnel Committee are commissioners Jan Hall and Bruce Martinson, Janet Simonen, Mary Black, Community Center Director Diane Booth, and Sheriff Mark Falk.
In other news:
A first quarter budget review shows that county expenditures are right on track after the first three months of 2011, with the county having spent 24.8% of what was budgeted (adjusted for anomalies such as grants paid out in lump sums at the beginning of the year).
The board approved the terms of the county audit as set forth by the Office of the State Auditor. The state has turned down the county’s requests to try to save money by hiring an entity other than the state to perform the annual audit. The good news, said Auditor-Treasurer Braidy Powers, is, “We’ve always had a clean audit.”
North Shore Hospital is trying to make good use of what is left of its formerly collected 1% hospital tax, which is in the county’s hands. The county board approved reimbursement to the hospital for its purchase of a specialized patient care tub at a cost of $17,466.
The board awarded a Sag Lake parking lot maintenance contract to Voyageur Canoe Outfitters at a price of $230 a week from May to the time the two lots close, expected to be in October. Oversight requires cleaning restrooms and parking areas, routine repairs, issuing permits, enforcing proper parking and permit display, collecting money, helping customers and making change, and handing out tickets for violations.
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