According to the numbers laid out by the McLeod County budget committee, the government needs $27.3 million to cover its 2023 operations. That boils down to a 2023 levy increase of 5.5%.
“Trying to run, whether it’s a household, a business or a county government in what seems to be an over 8% inflationary period is quite difficult,” said board Vice Chair Paul Wright, who sits on the budget committee. “The county is not immune. So that has a lot to do with this.”
The issue was discussed last week as board members considered the preliminary 2023 levy, which state law requires they pass by the end of the month. But they have until the end of the year to continue revisions and can reduce the levy from the proposed figure in December, but not increase it. The expense is paid with property taxes from around the county.
But what would a 5.5% levy increase mean to county residents? McLeod County Finance Director Colleen Robeck provided an estimate with a similar increase, 5%, that showed a home valued at $200,000 paying an additional $52 in property taxes for the year.
The recommended 5.5% preliminary levy increase was approved in a 4-0 vote with Commissioner Daryl Luthens absent.
Robeck provided some context before the vote. The county invests 33% of its budget into public safety and the judicial budget, and another 25% in Health and Human Services.
“That’s over half,” said Commissioner Joe Nagel who sits on the budget committee. “There’s no fluff there when we’re working with those departments.”
Other county work, such as highway safety, accounts for 15% of the budget. Culture and recreation count for 3%, as does conservation. In order to bring the levy increase down from an earlier figure in the teens, the committee cut $534,000 from highway signs, court administration remodeling, the county fleet, an emergency management inflatable shelter, information technology and building repairs. Another $934,000 was cut by moving bathroom work, fairgrounds drainage and fairgrounds roof repairs to special revenue funds. Outside organizations were held to the 2022 budget. The Highway Department also cut $800,000 in rehabilitation projects.
“We have worked really hard to get the budget down,” Robeck said.
Nagel said the county would work to “sharpen the pencil” and bring the final figure down from a 5.5% increase but noted that would call for serious cuts. He noted supply chain issues, and the necessity to plan even further ahead have also contributed to expenses. Wright said the county could always slash the budget by removing projects, such as road work, but that means the work would be left for the next year.
“A few of us have been there, done that,” he said.
McLeod County trailed the average statewide voter turnout for the 2022 Primary Election, but at least one major factor may have contributed to that result.
“There were really no runoff races on the ballot in either the county or the city of Hutchinson,” McLeod County Auditor-Treasurer Connie Kurtzweg said last week.
The county had 23,111 registered voters at 7 a.m. Aug. 9. Another 110 registered that day. Overall, the county counted 2,672 ballots at the polls, and 312 absentee ballots, for a total of 2,984. That’s a 12.91% voter turnout as compared to 22.28% average statewide.
Kurtzweg said average turnout in most precincts was about 12.43%, but in absentee ballot precincts, the average turnout was 32.77%.
Looking ahead, the McLeod County Government Center at 520 Chandler Ave. N. in Glencoe has a dedicated room for every day of in-person early voting leading up to the Nov. 8 General Election. Kurtzweg said voters have so far been complimentary, and that in comparison to the North Complex, “We are able to utilize our space here a little better.”
McLeod County has 22 OmniBallot tablets for use in local precincts thanks to a Help America Vote Act grant of $62,869. The county’s share of the $101,552 price tag was $38,683.
All county voting devices serviced are by technicians and tested by county staff with a test deck of ballots. In 2022, all McLeod County election equipment remains at government center until the day prior to the election.
All city and township clerks attend to process a test deck of ballots and verify those results.
McLeod County residents can vote early, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday at the McLeod County Auditor-Treasurer’s Office, 520 Chandler Ave. N. in Glencoe.
Hutchinson residents have a second option, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday at Hutchinson City Center, 111 Hassan St. S.E., Hutchinson.
Central Minnesota Jobs and Training Services is building a program to reduce recidivism in McLeod County.
“We’re working with the McLeod County Jail ... and we’re putting together programming to help ‘skill up’ incarcerated individuals, provide them navigation services, mentorship until they release,” CMJTS Chief Executive Officer Barbara Chafee told McLeod County Board members this past week. “Then we’ll work with them upon release to help them with their job search goals so we can try to reduce recidivism here in McLeod County.”
Money for the program was provided by a Pathways to Prosperity Grant from the Department of Employment and Economic Development. It will receive $75,000 in 2022 and 2023.
Chafee and other CMJTS employees spoke with the McLeod County Board while delivering an annual report.
McLeod County is one of 11 counties in central and north central Minnesota on CMJTS’s joint powers board. CMJTS maintains specialized centers, and one-stop CareerForce centers in the region, including one in Hutchinson and one in Litchfield.
The annual report Chaffee shared showed no material weaknesses, no financial deficiencies and no noncompliance found during an audit.
“We had another perfect audit for the 16 years in a row, which is almost unheard of in a nonprofit,” she said.
When residents seek services from the county, they are referred to CMJTS. Specialists help residents gain skills, and use programs to support and reward work, and aid service recipients who want to be self-sufficient. Programs are geared toward youth, at risk youth, adults, dislocated workers and businesses.
CMJTS’s SNAP program helps SNAP participants gain skills, training and work experience. It also serves as the county’s job service for refugees in Minnesota’s assistance program.
Employment specialist Corey Roskmap shared the story of Wil Carranza, who came to CMJTS as part of a refugee program and gained a referral for English language learning while waiting for documentation and seeking help in a job search.
“He was very eager to want to learn English. We’re located in Ridgewater College,” Roskmap said. “I walked him down the hallway to adult basic (education), introduced him. They have a Spanish-speaking teacher. … That day he sat down and started learning English.”
Carranza is now employed at Millerbernd Manufacturing.
