Coming before the county board on Tuesday, Ocotber 27, 2015 to talk about terminating the contract with the state for operation of the Sentence-to-Service (STS) program were Sheriff Pat Eliasen, Dispatch Supervisor/Jail Administrator Judy Sivertson, Probabation Officer Steve Borud and McKay Karl. Sheriff Eliasen assured the board that terminating the contract would not mean the elimination of the STS program— but it would result in a reduction in the Sheriff ’s Office budget.
Eliasen said the current STS coordinator Gary Jorgenson was no longer available to serve in that role, so the Sheriff ’s Office contacted the state and learned that Cook County could run the program itself. He said inmates in the STS program could still go out to work, but instead of having a crew leader with them at all times, the entities using STS crews would be supervising.
Judy Sivertson said she had talked to other counties and this works well for them. She stressed that these are low-risk prisoners and that the supervisors they would be working for are familiar with the program, such as Rick Sturm at the Recycle Center or Brian Silence with county maintenance. If STS workers were assigned to a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources project, the DNR would be responsible for supervision.
Eliasen said Sivertson and/or deputies would check on inmates throughout the day.
Eliasen said the county would save $60,000 a year by not renewing the state contract. Commissioners asked if there would be additional costs for running the program and Eliasen said he didn’t think so, as the checks on inmates could be worked into the law enforcement schedules. He said Sivertson, who would be the primary person impacted, is salaried. “She gets paid whether she is in the office writing policies or watching someone shovel snow,” he said.
Eliasen acknowledged that Gary Jorgenson had been an excellent crew leader and the county was losing some of his mentorship with inmates, but said he reiterated that the STS program could be run inhouse.
Commissioners agreed and directed Sheriff Eliasen to move ahead with a county STS program, asking for a report on how it is going in 90 days.
STS savings helps board reduce levy
Commissioners set the preliminary 2016 levy on September 22 with a 12 percent increase from 2015, with the promise that they would work to decrease the levy further, which they attempted at Tuesday’s meeting.
According to Administrator Jeff Cadwell, the current levy increase of 12 percent represents an annual increase for taxpayers of $48 per $100,000 of property value.
Cadwell reviewed the budget items that have been set, the Public Health and Human Services budget of $1,208,240 was approved on September 22. The Road and Bridge budget of $1,831,524 was reviewed and for the most part supported.
The Sheriff ’s Office budget of $2,200,067 was also reviewed and supported previously, but the board noted the $60,000 reduction because of changes to STS.
Cadwell told the board that each 1 percent decrease in the proposed levy represents approximately $65,168 and commissioners noted that the STS change equaled an almost 1 percent reduction.
Highlighting the challenge commissioners face, Cadwell pointed out that the current proposed net expenditures for 2016 are already a percentage lower than the budgeted net expenditures for 2015.
Commissioner Garry Gamble asked Auditor Braidy Powers about the status of the county’s fund balance. “Can you give us an update as to where we are relative to fund balance? Of the 75 percent that we are trying to protect, where are we at?
Powers replied, “We will be very close. We’re pretty much doing, as of the end of September, what we projected.”
Cadwell noted the preliminary levy uses $12,000 from the county’s fund balance. “Which we’re still intending to find,” he reminded commissioners.
There was brief discussion of areas to revisit and questions about the Cook County/Grand Marais Econonomic Development Authority (EDA) and the bonds for the Cedar Grove Business Park that the county and City of Grand Marais are paying. Gamble asked if the EDA can make some payments now that some lots have been sold. Commissioner Doo-Kirk suggested having a worksession on November 10 with the city and the EDA to discuss lot sales and bond payments.
County Attorney Molly Hicken said the city and county have an agreement in place regarding the infrastructure bonds and both parties would have to agree to any changes. The board asked Hicken to review the agreement and bring back her thoughts at the November 10 worksession.
Commissioners also responded to concerns expressed by some citizens that the county’s search and rescue budget was being cut. The board asked Auditor Powers if the search and rescue budget had been cut and Powers said no. The board noted that there are no such cuts planned.
Regarding finding more reductions, Commissioner Jan Sivertson said, “It seems more like a marketing issue than it does an actual reduce the budget issue, because the budget at 12 percent is not real…I mean it’s real, but it’s not an increase of 12 percent.”
Sivertson said the county has spun that number and she said, “We’re creating our own drama.”
Board Chair Heidi Doo- Kirk agreed, noting that Grand Marais Mayor Jay Arrowsmith DeCoux had done a good job explaining the need for the city’s 12 percent increase on his blog and in an editorial in the Cook County News-Herald. She said maybe the county needs to do the same, to stress that “our actual budget is lower.”
Commissioner Gamble tried clarifying Sivertson’s statement. He said, “If in 2015, you have an item that is $1,000—which is our 2015 budget. We had $800 that we levied of that but we had $200 that we borrowed from our bank. You get to 2016 and the item is $1,000… the $1,000 is still $1,000, but we’re not going to go to the bank to borrow this time.”
But, Gamble added that whether the county borrows from money already paid by the taxpayer or taxes them in 2016, the overall impact is the same. Commissioner Moe agreed, noting that people don’t see the difference when they see an increase on their tax bill.
Moe said Sheriff Eliasen’s proposal to change Sentence-to-Serve to save $60,000 was “very instructive.” He said the board has gone through the budget item-by-item and he didn’t see any way to reduce it further without cutting services or personnel. “We’re not going to nickel and dime this,” he said.
There was discussion of consolidating services and Cadwell said that is something the county does need to look at. He said there is opportunity to use staff much more efficiently. However, he said, “I can’t do that between now and December.”
And, Cadwell said, whatever levy number the board decides, he and the auditor will continue to work toward that goal. Doo-Kirk said she disagrees that commissioners shouldn’t “nickel and dime” the budget, but she said, “Those nickels and dimes add up to a quarter percent.”
Talk again turned to what sort of services could be reduced, such as chloride for the roads—and the funding of discretionary services. Discussion continued for nearly two hours. No solutions were found and discussion will continue at the board meeting on November 10.
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