Good afternoon everyone. We'll call this afternoon's meeting of the Klay County Board of Commissioners to order for Tuesday, December 16th. Our first item is the approval of the agenda. >> Mr. Chair, I'll make a motion to approve the agenda.
>> Second. We're missing a microphone. We have a motion by Commissioner Bear, second by Commissioner Krabnoff. Any further comments or questions on the agenda? Any further discussion? Seeing none, all
in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Oppose the same sign. >> Motion carried. Our next item is citizens to be heard. Do we have any citizens to be heard on items not on the agenda? I'd like to talk about property taxes.
Is that on the agenda? >> It's on It's on the agenda. >> Actually, it's it's part of the truth and taxation. Is that what you're here for? >> Well, I'm here just to whine. >> All right. Let's >> Let's let's let's get after it.
>> Okay. Uh what three four weeks ago I got my uh proposed property taxes. It's probably good that circumstances didn't allow me to attend until now because I was quite agitated to start with and so it's better that I'm calm. I'd like to tell a couple stories because I think the stories resonate better than just a series of facts and figures. Uh my name
is David Kragnus from Felton, Minnesota is my address. 10600 60th Street North Felton, Minnesota. David Kragnus, K RNs, just like the town. Uh when my son was thinking about taking over, we went and talked to Bell Bank, who's been our long-term banker. Asked them how big of a farm do you have to
have to be a viable farm? They said 1500 acres is what we consider the about the smallest viable farm unless you have some specialty crops in your rotation. So the most I ever farmed is 1350 acres. So I'm smaller, not me personally, but
my farm was smaller than a considered a small farm. Uh I like to compare my farm business with some businesses downtown and the ones I like to use is the Dairy Queen because people know all about it and Dugan's Auto Supply. In both cases, family-un business, the family works
there and they hire some part-time or full-time workers. Especially they hire a Dairy Queen to hire some summertime help. Sounds a lot the way a farm is structured with a familyowned business that they hope to make profitable and pass on to their family.
Um the Dairy Queen's uh property tax is $5,430. My property tax is uh $53,182. So, a small farm, a small business, I'm 10x the property tax what they are
downtown. Their county portion at the Dairy Queen, their county portion of the tax is $1,21. My projected increase in county property tax next year is $1,877. So the increase that I'm going to have
next year projected is 150% of what their total is for a family business downtown and another family business downtown because Dugans and Dairy Queen pay about the same amount. Um
my total property taxes is is uh my property tax for the county 42 is 80% of what the Dairy Queen's total tax is. Uh, and it looks like I'm going to get an 8% increase, give or take, by the time we're done with you folks and the
schools and etc. Uh, another comparison I'd like to make is a deal a Dworth Super Walmart. How many hundreds of people do they employ? How many folks's total livelihood comes out of Dillworth Super Walmart? And they pay 163,216
in total property taxes. Now, a typical farm out in our country, I said, 1500 acres is too small. Typical farm now is a young couple in their 30s, 40s, maybe 50s and a retiring parents in their 70s and 80s. Uh typically they farm about
3500 acres which property taxes on that 3500 acres happens to just about equal what the entire uh do super Walmart is. So the typical family farm out in Klay County pays as much property tax as a do
super Walmart. How in the hell can we figure this is fair? Um, if there's a guy down the road that has exactly the same house as I do, and he has exactly the same net worth as I do, and he has exactly the same income as I do, so that at the end of the year,
he owes exactly the same state and federal tax as I do because I have chosen to invest my retirement account was land that I built up over the 50 years that I farmed. and he's chosen to do 401k or stocks, bonds, gold, bullion,
antique cars, whatever else he has uh for his retirement account. Even though we are exactly equal in net worth, earned money, everything else, at the end of the year, I pay $50,000 more in property tax than he does. Same guy,
same net worth. I pay $50,000 more than he does because mine's my retirement account is dirt and his retirement account is something else. I know that this isn't the place where you can change the formulas, but if you're unhappy with the steak,
you don't get to talk to the to the uh uh chef, you get to talk to the waitress. And so, I'm here to complain to you folks, and I know that you carry these stories on up, but I want to reinforce it. And as you're making some difficult decisions here over the end of the year, I want you you're you're
killing us, man. You're killing us out there. Thanks for your time. Thank you. All right. Do we have any other citizens to be heard on items not on the agenda? Seeing none, we will move on to the approval of bills and vouchers. >> Mr. Chair, I'll make a motion to approve
the bills and vouchers. >> Second. Have a motion by Commissioner Bayer, second by Commissioner Abinger. Any further discussion on the motion? Any further discussion? Seeing none, all in favor signify by saying I. >> I.
>> Those same. Motion carried. Next, we have approval of minutes from November 25th and December 2nd. I'll take them both in one motion unless there is a need for correction on either. >> I'll make a motion, Mr. Chair, then with for approve the minutes from November 25th and December 2nd of 2025.
Second. A >> motion by Commissioner Bear, second by Commissioner Abbinger. Any further discussion on the motion? Any further discussion? Seeing none, all in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Oppose the same sign. Motion carried.
Our next item is the request approval of out of state travel for opioid program manager. >> Morning or good afternoon, Rory. Or good evening, >> chair and commissioner. Quick request. Um, >> you want to turn turn on your mic?
>> Good evening, chair and commissioners. I have a quick request. I'm requesting approval for outofstate travel for our opioid program manager to attend the opioid crisis management congress in Austin, Texas in February. We estimate
it's going to be $2,000. That's very close. Um that amount is in budget in our um overdose prevention budget from uh MDH. We have approval from MDH um for that as well. So I'm asking for uh your
approval tonight. >> Any questions? >> One just bear. >> So this is being provided by MDH's overdose prevention grant is covering the bill on this. >> Correct. >> With that, Mr. Mr. Chair, I'll make a motion to approve the out of state
travel for the opioid program manager to attend the National Opioid Conference. >> Second. >> Motion by Commissioner Bear, second by Commissioner Ebinger. Any further discussion on the motion? >> Any further discussion? None. All in favor signify by saying I.
>> I. >> Opposed the same sign. Motion carried. All right. Thank you. >> Thank you. Have a good evening. All right. Next, we have approval of agreement with Ottertale Valley Railroad. Good afternoon, Justin. >> Good afternoon. Yes. So, the item I have
is a railroad agreement. So, this is just the permit that's needed due to the roundabout construction and beans that we will enter railroad right away. It's just a standard railroad agreement. There's nothing out of the ordinary with this one. >> Any questions?
>> I'll make a motion to approve the agreement with Lady Tail Valley Railroad. >> I'll second. >> Right. We have a motion by Commissioner Krabanov, second by Commissioner Bayer. Any further discussion? >> Just one one question. >> With the cost of this, is this built
into the roundabout total cost? >> Not. So, um, this wouldn't be eligible for reimbursement from state aid, but it is built into my budget for next year. >> All right. Any further discussion? >> No. All in favor signify by saying I.
>> I the same. >> Good. >> Thank you. >> Next, we have a request approval of the cost of living adjustment. Good afternoon, Darren. >> Good afternoon, commissioners. Uh, thank you for having me for this. Uh, I am
here to request the 2026 cola for uh the unions that we have settled with and for the uh non-UN employees of Klay County. Um just a a quick brief uh overview. We have about 706 employees in Klay County
right now. That includes full-time, part-time, and variable hour. Um we have 10 unions that we are currently bargaining with and we have settled with five of those already.
the cola that we are looking for for next year next year 2026 is the 4% increase. Uh how how that compares and I did some research on some other counties right now as you know we have 19 uh comparable
counties that we look at all the time and for 2026 they're running about 3.95%. So this is in the realms of what our comparable counties are running as well. Um I also looked at the I I uh out of
the 1910 10 of those counties responded. So that's out of 10 not out of the whole 19. Uh for the uh 2025 this year 15 of those counties responded and the average for 2025 was 4.08%.
If you recall, we did a market study last year and we came in at 6% for this year. So, what we're requesting for next year is 4% for the uh for the overall cola. >> We did a three and three, didn't we? >> Yes. Total of six. Yeah. Three and
three. 3% cola and 3% market adjustment last year to be implemented this year. And with that being said, uh I'm open to questions, >> questions, >> just a comment, appreciate you going and
figuring out all the other what the average is. >> Sure. >> One of the things when when we look at these, you also have to play pay close attention just to the Fargo Morehead market.
>> Yes. Sometimes that can be significantly different than what you might find in Fergus Falls for example. >> Right. Correct. >> And that and that is included in what you do for comparisons, right? >> Yes.
>> I know we use it in our market studies. We use the Fargo word. >> Yep. Exactly. >> I'd like to make a motion to approve the cost of living adjustment of 4% for 2026. I'll second.
>> All right, we have a motion by Commissioner Ebinger, second by Commissioner Krabanhoff. Any further discussion on the motion? >> Any further discussion? Seeing none, all in favor signify by saying I. >> I oppose the same sign. Motion carries
and the cola is established for 2026. >> Thank you. Next, we have a salary adjustment request from Sheriff. Good afternoon, Sheriff. Good afternoon,
Mr. Chair, commissioners. Thank you for having me here uh this this afternoon. Uh I'd like to start this off just by saying that uh first of all, it's kind of odd for me to do something like this. I have never sat in front of the board and asked for an adjustment. Um I'm
going into my eighth year um as sheriff next year and this is going to be the first time I've sat in front of the board um asking for this adjustment. It's never really an easy time to ask for something like this. This is something that I know um our county administrator and I have talked about
quite frequently over the past two to three years about when is a good time. And when uh the chief deputy and I sat down and did our budget this year, um there was um there was uh I don't want to say extra funds, it was but when you're losing people at the higher rate
and bringing people in at a lower rate, you're having that that gap in there. So, this was um salaries going into salaries for this request. It um it's not this was budgeted back in June July when I did my budget presentation. Um
it's not we're not asking for more levy dollars at this point because it already is in my budget. Um I did run the comparable numbers as well that uh Darren alluded to earlier with our 19 comparables and I'll get to those in a
moment. Um I am requesting the salary adjustment for myself. Over the past several years, the responsibility of this office have grown substantially. Yet the compensation does not fully reflect the scope and demands of the role. Um, I'm responsible for overseeing all the hiring within the department,
managing a complex and involving budget and managing internal matters and personnel concerns a lot of times at a higher volume um, compared to other county departments just because of the nature of our job where we have a lot of citizen contacts and things of that
nature. Uh, the addition uh, associated with the new jail brought more staff at the jail. That brought 15 more staff members at the jail. Um, we further have five more uh additional staff members within the law enforcement center as well. Uh, yet the salary for this
position has not been formally reviewed since these changes. Uh, beyond the core administrative and operational duties, it requires additional time commitments. Um, as I'm sure many of you are aware, I'm always out working extra hours during summer uh celebrations, community
events. I'm always out at uh church picnics, township picnics, the fair, uh rollog, all different kinds of events that happen uh throughout the summer. Um attending many fundraisers throughout the year as well. And that's just to do that to build the rapport with our
community with for the sheriff's office, but also Klay County as well. I also participate in a lot of uh after hours meetings and critical incident responses and I assist as well in filling um um staffing gaps and I feel that we're
going to have a little bit more than that uh a little bit more staffing gaps here come 2026 with earned safe and sick time. Um that that I feel is going to be an issue for us. Um therefore I am respectfully requesting uh this salary adjustment which is built into the
budget um to be in line with our comparable jurisdictions and recognize the increased responsibility and significant time commitments associated with the role. As I indicated I do have some comparables here and currently for 2025
I am 14 out of 20. The 20 is I I included Klay County into that number so I'm 14 out of 20. Um, and just for reference, in 2024, I was 13 out of 20. So, I had taken one step back. This salary adjustment for 26. And I'm going
to compare 2025 rates because that's what I have. I don't have a lot of projected rates for 26 for our other comparables. But this would put me um at number seven out of the comparables. And I'm assuming that some of our other comparables will be um getting raises in
2026, moving them up and moving me further down that list as well. With that, I would yield to any for any questions. >> Questions? Not so much a question or comment. Yeah. Well, I think Mikey, Sheriff, uh
you did uh um you talked about this earlier in the year as you had said. So, uh it really isn't a surprise to me. Uh it's good to have your analysis that you talked about. Uh the work that you do and that we do see, I mean, is
outstanding. We see that and I want to honor that. So, I'm um personally, I'm totally comfortable with what what you're asking for. >> Thank you. Commissioner Abinger. >> I'll echo Commissioner Krabangh's comments and I would like to make a
motion to adjust the Klay County Sheriff's salary to the uh uh agreed or the presented level we had at the uh budget presentation. I believe that's going to be
10. I'm >> sorry. Go ahead. Is your motion? Make a motion for the 18 >> 10. >> Yeah. >> The 10% >> 10%. >> Sure. >> Is 10% you presented
>> 10% plus the cola. >> Plus cola. >> Yeah. >> So that >> Yes, >> that'll be 14. >> We need Yeah, you need to finish and then we'll have a second. Then we can have discussion. >> Yeah, it'll be fine. >> Okay. It'll be uh a 14% increase.
We have a second. >> All right. Just for for now, >> I'll make the second. >> Okay. We have a we have a second. Now, for discussion purposes, I you know, I think on all of our elected position salaries, we have to we have to have a
motion with a dollar amount, don't we? Isn't that what's required? >> Mr. Chair, commissioners, based on your actions today, um I will be bring >> anything yet. >> No, based on your actions, if you were to make actions today, I would be
bringing a resolution for the board that would designate the exact number per statute requirement. >> So, so ultimately that that is resolution is separate. >> That's correct. >> And that'll be at a later time. That'll be next week. But just for
clarification, you your motion had 14% in there. >> That was 10% plus the cola. >> Okay. So the 10% is applied first and then the cola. >> So Mr. Chair, commissioners, if you look at your wage calculator and the far
right column, it breaks it down what that 4% would be. Excuse me. And then uh the the second number, so the the hourly wage hourly rate would be $8848 would be what the sheriff would be requesting.
>> And my my question is is the is the 10% go on first and then >> 4% cola goes after that. >> Uh based on the the wage calculator, looks like the 4% was added and then 10% on top of that. >> I think that needs to be reversed, doesn't it?
>> No. So, we're looking at uh $18,646.20 increase. That's That's what's on our >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Right. Sheriff, is that what you're looking for? >> Correct. Yes. >> All right. We have a motion and a
second. Any further discussion on the motion? >> Just one more comment to towards the sheriff. That's one thing I've noticed with you. You're always out and about in the public during the summer and all year round actually, just not the summer. And with my constituents really appreciate you being out there and being
public and being seen. So, I appreciate that. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Chair. I think it's also worth mentioning that sheriff is taking taken a very um forward step with the Minnesota Sheriff's Association. He's now their
second vice president. He's represented the Klay County. Well, one of the problems that we have, as we all experience, is outstate Minnesota doesn't have a lot of champions in the capital when it comes time to argue our issues. and uh he is there and I am
grateful for that. That's a critical issue that we we as a commission have tried to address. I I do want to add that um sheriff did bring this forward to our pick committee and we had a significant discussion in
pick regarding it and I went into probably even more detail than what you shared here today and um I do agree the fact that you haven't come up here before and and um I don't know the market study might
have helped a little bit because you probably got a little bit of assistance through the market study from 2025, >> you know, more than anybody else. >> Well, yeah, but but I mean it it helped everybody. >> It helped everybody. >> Yeah. So, um yeah, I I'm going to
support your your request as well. I think you're, you know, is what's been mentioned here. I just saw a picture of you again this morning out on >> Y >> on a bad accident that occurred. And
those things those things aren't easy, are they? >> They're not. No, they're not at all. And I think the hardest part of those types of calls is dealing with family and co-workers and things of those nature. It's one thing to deal with the incident itself. It's another thing to deal with
the family. Well, I know in times when we're we're trying to keep our our taxes down for this is met gentleman just said, but at the same point in time, you know, um we need to do the right thing to keep it
keep the people that we have. That said, any other any other discussion on the motion? >> Only a question. So, we have an exact dollar amount that is in your Mr. Mr. Chair, members of the commission, if I think if you would vote on the the uh
hourly rate, uh then we can verify with HR to make sure all of the all the additional PR and and things are correct and we'll bring that as part of the resolution next week. >> I'll I'll accept that into my motion. >> I'll second the amended motion.
>> All right. We have a friendly amendment. Yeah. >> Any further discussion? Seeing none, all in favor signify by saying I. >> I. The same. Motion carried. And I think the final resolution that we do will probably have voice votes on.
>> Thank you. And once again, I just thank >> like to reiterate my appreciation to the county board. I know I said it at pick. Um, we're kind of in a unique area here where we do all get along. That's some that doesn't happen everywhere else. And we also all get along as as department
heads as well. So, I appreciate all the department heads. um and uh and working with them throughout the years and the county administrator and the board support. So, thank you. >> All right. Next, we have the salary adjustment request for
Chief Assistant County Attorney. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh, commissioners, um, I've passed around a document to you. I think that's going to be the most updated that Darren had. I had submitted some other documents along. I'll probably talk through a lot of the
discussion. I obviously the next item after this is my own salary and we'll talk through that too. But I do just want to talk through a little bit. I know this board is aware, but maybe for the uh public's uh information or standing, you know, we've had kind of a somewhat long saga last three years uh
really four years of uh watching the market uh change for uh the county attorneys or assistant county attorney world. Uh we saw a large market adjustment uh that happened when uh public defenders received a fairly significant raise uh through the state
uh about uh three years ago now or going on four years uh where some public defenders end up getting adjustments in the realm of sometimes 10 to 20 to $30,000 pay increase. And and what that caused uh that market adjustment then
caused a larger change within the market where you saw a lot of assistant county attorneys leaving um different offices and going into the public defender sector for a period of time. And uh and so then the market had to catch up with itself and watching uh different
assistant county attorneys uh or offices uh being vacant for a period of time or having to adjust pay uh to attract assistant county attorneys and keep those positions either filled or or get them filled. And so uh we've seen that happen over the last three years. Uh but
within that our own county just by the way it happened is that's when we just started uh the previous um union contract with the Klay County Assistant County Attorneys. And so they had a brand new um contract three years ago.
Um and so they didn't really see that adjustment or they didn't see that adjustment other than cost of living uh raises uh for that period of time. And so as we came up to this most current uh contract period, the assistant county attorneys uh we knew that there was
likely going to be needing a fairly uh significant adjustment within the market to make sure that those uh individuals stayed here uh or were attracted to be here and continue to be here in Klay County. I will tell you over the last three years, I looked back, we had uh we
had nine uh vacancies uh occur over a three-year period. So, we're average about three per year where they were leaving, having to refill. Um and all of those except one, one went back to doing some clerking for a judge, but all of
them remained in the uh the legal field and working as assistant county attorneys, but working as assistant county attorneys in the Twin Cities. And so when you see that kind of rollover, what we really realize is we're doing a lot of training here for individuals
that ultimately end up being uh you know in the Twin Cities and and doing work for them, which they're doing good work. They're still doing a lot of the stuff that we care about and making sure that public safety is the highest concern, but um obviously they're not here and so we need to keep working to fill those
positions. Um, with all that said, the reason I tell all that, I know that this board is aware that ultimately, uh, this board authorized, uh, Darren to negotiate with the the union and the assistant county attorneys, uh, to do a 9% pay increase along with that 4% COLA
that the board just authorized. So ultimately the assistant county attorneys when the within the office all received uh that 9% pay raise uh and a 4% cost increase ultimately a 13% uh pay increase to get that market right for
them uh and their union contract. And so, uh, I appreciate that greatly, uh, both that authorization and what the board, uh, worked to do to make sure that we do have those individuals, uh, receiving pay that's, uh, equitable across the board and and comparable to
other assistant county attorneys that are within the the state currently. And so, uh, that's a good thing. I think it helps correct the market and it does well for, uh, what we'll see in the future. What that doesn't do, it doesn't uh authorize anything for the people that are outside of the union, the
management folks, the two chief assistants that I have, uh the criminal uh chief assistant uh Pam Foss, and then my chief assistant for civil uh Katie Stock. And so, um I'm looking to try to write the market uh for them as well and
apply that. Um, the thing I want to make sure that the board is aware of is there had been some market adjustment for them previously. Last year when the uh was looked at and the county had that 3% that was uh available, they were outside
of market uh by about that and they received a 3% uh pay raise. But again, when we're looking at 9% uh for assistance and we got 3% there for the chief assistance. So, as I looked at uh doing adjustments and and bringing in
calculations to uh the board, ultimately the large sheet that you have in front of you, I put some other ones in there that I had previously, but I didn't have quite the right calculation that I needed uh that Darren uh corrected for me. So, I appreciate getting those. And those would be looking at moving the
chief assistants up from one grade from grade 27 up to grade 28, but actually moving them back one step. And that would give them around. Unfortunately, it's not perfect. It doesn't size up exactly right. It's doesn't come out to be 9%, but it comes up to around 7% or
so. Um, unfortunately, a little bit lower for Katie's, about 6% or or 3% this time, uh, with that 3% from last year. So, they'd be about 6% for her, about 7% for Pam, and then also they'd have the cost of living. So, um, if
looking at that total, um, they'd be looking around 7% is basically what I'm asking for for them when you look at moving them up that one grade and back a step. So, that generally is what I'm asking for for them. Um, to look at my
own salary, too. I uh, you know, let's let's do that. >> Okay, we can definitely do that separate, too. But I just wanted to tell you that I am looking around basically 7% myself, too. So, I just want to let you know that >> I I know this was um discussed at at our
personnel issues committee meeting as well and went over it in detail and I the recommendation out of pick was to approve this request as well. Um in terms of them
going up one grade and then back one step, right? Is that correct? We we had talked and it's where those two sheets that I actually included in there. Originally when I brought the pick I I gave both if we went up one step and back versus just straight just a right
one up line and kept it the same. It would that would be closer to for Katie that'd be about 6%. Um plus the former three that'd be about 9%. Pam would be closer to seven or eight% plus three would be about 11%. Well, they weren't already at the top step in their in
their current grade. >> At their current grade, Pam was. Pam's a a 25 or yeah, about 25 year veteran. So, she's at the very top. So, so her going up one extra grade and back allows for her to get one. >> You will get one more step at some point down.
>> Correct. >> And then Katie would >> Katie is about more than one >> eight years. She has she have several. Yeah. All right. Any further discussion? Nothing. But I'll make a motion to adjust the chief assistant to Carneia
attorney salaries. >> All right. We have a motion and a second. Motion by Mr. Bar, second by Commissioner Eberinger to approve the um wage adjustments as presented. Any further discussion?
Any further discussion? Seeing none, all in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> What was the same? Motion carried. All right. Now, Sheriff, we'll get into your I appreciate it. Uh, greatly appreciated for further increase. So, with my salary, too, I
mean, I I uh I guess much as as Mark said, you know, it's it's a weird time to come and before the board requesting that, I sit through all that. I know the difficult decisions uh the board is obviously looking at throughout uh to decide pay increases uh costs those
types of things. I do look at when we talk about the fact that uh this market adjustment uh has been made across the board uh with assistance looking at 9% uh the chief's looking at something close to that same or looking at at around 7% plus an increase. Uh when I
did budgeting, uh when I had done the budget, we I asked for my own uh uh David Drowns uh check to see where our our market study was just for the assistance. Um and that ultimately came at 9%, but I didn't have that originally
and I budgeted for everybody really closer to about 7%. And so within my own uh I put in for 7% request uh that has been uh put into the the u salary request or budget request. And so in
looking at everything, I I will just want to point out that all of that pay increase ultimately um largely our cost within the county attorney's office at least did not go up that much primarily because we lost one of our most uh um
individuals who had experience which was Mike Leer who became a judge and by him uh leaving as a 10-year veteran uh and hiring a new person at line one uh that cost uh that's in between is basically uh even pretty much for what we've been
able to do for the salary increases for the assistants and then also the chief assistants and then also including myself. But uh I do think that based on the fact that you know when I started back 28 years ago we had uh three assistant county attorneys, we now have
uh 12 assistant county attorneys. There is a lot more uh management. There is a lot more things going on. uh there is uh was a large-scale adjustment within the market. I have not ever in the in the 17 years of of being the county attorney uh come before to ask for a pay raise. So I
thought it was appropriate this time with that type of adjustment across uh all of the office that that I would come in and ask for that 7% pay increase for myself as well. sub any of your questions. >> And again, this was all this was brought
up in pick and one of the things that Brian mentioned early on in this discussion was what had transpired uh with with um the state and their increases to public defenders. And that really it really set us below at a at a
point where, you know, as you said, I think we're losing attorneys to to that and that that's not a good thing. Um, I have a question here. So, you you mentioned you were asking for 7%.
>> I put in the 9% increase as the document, so you would know that what that is. I mean, I look at, you know, if if the management and my my managers are looking at about a 7% increase, I think 7% would be appropriate for me as well. So that you have the document in front
of you what the what 9% would ultimately be. So I think it would be somewhat a little bit less. >> And you had incorporated that into your yours into the budget, right? Correct. Presented. >> Correct. >> Were the 7% for the other two were not? >> No, they were two.
>> They were two. Okay. Correct. >> So this is the way it was in the budget. >> They were all correct. All of them were. >> But were you from you? >> Yeah. Correct. >> Okay. >> All right. Any further discussion?
>> Well, to me it seems all equitable and and keeping everybody in line. So I'll make a motion to adjust the Klay County Attorney salary as budgeted. Second. >> All right, we have a motion by
Commissioner Krabanoft and second by Commissioner Abner to adjust the county attorney's salary to as presented in his 2026 budget. >> Any further discussion on the motion? >> And Mr. Chair, I'm sorry. I just want to
make sure that it is that 7% as I budgeted, but that would include, I assume, the 4% cola. Correct. Right. That >> and again that's why my discussion was earlier. I think I think those numbers come first and the cola comes on top of that. That's
>> I think that's typically how we do it. >> Thank you. All right. Any further discussion? Further discussion. Seeing none, all in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> I. >> Oppos the same sign. Carried. Thank you, Brian.
>> Much appreciated. All right. Next. Next. We're scheduled to take a break, right? I wonder if we can just keep going here um till it's 6 o'clock. Um Steve, do you want to do you want to
talk about the 2026 Clay County budget? >> Mr. Chair, I wonder if it would make >> You want to do that after? >> Yeah. I wonder if it would make more sense if we did committee assignments. Now, sure, we can do that. Um, >> yeah, let's go to the committee reports. I was going to Mr. Bear, would you like
to start? >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. On Wednesday, December 3rd, I had Clay County Collaborative where we discussed it's been a while, but we had a quorum.
We discussed um the termination contract between the Klay County Collaborative and REACH because REACH and CAP LP are joining forces. So then we had to have a new contract put together with CAP LP being in charge and transferring the remaining funds over to
them for the rest of the year. And I believe we have one set up for going forward for next year as well. We also discussed some breakdowns on funding for the school districts. Nothing was set in
stone there, but we were going to give it back over to uh the other group, but I do the >> admin >> the admin to finalize it. So, Commissioner Krabangh was also there at that meeting. He chairs that meeting. So, I'll let him if he wants to discuss
any more go into that. And then on the 5th uh that the partnership for health with Clay and Becker County that we are now in ourselves becoming becoming the first of the year. So we had our our
meeting before the end of the year just to discuss some things. We discussed the timeline for approval of Klay County and Becker County Health Board. We had talked about the administrator right now with our new hire to take over
public health. They need to have two years of experience to be able to run uh community health board. So right now we're going to split those rules between Becker and Klay County for the for the for the first year anyways and see about going forward with that.
We also had the grant breakdowns there on what it will look like for next year. Um, if there's anything else, I'll let Commissioner Ebinger add to that because he's the chairman of that committee.
On also December 3rd, I had an uh online meeting with the transport AMC transportation committee where we discussed two amendments that were going to be going forward to the AMC annual conference.
Then on December 7th, that's Sunday, I had an MRC meeting, where we talked, we had a person there to discuss about the
upcoming legislative session. Not too much has changed from last year to this year. still looks like it's going to be a tied house and a senate with a one vote majority to DFL. We discussed our upcoming legislatures
um programs that we plan on going after there. And then on Monday the 8th, I had the AMC transportation committee where we finalized our two amendments
going forward. And one of them was, I believe, was also an environmental, but we passed one through the committee for one:1 ratio split on wetlands. So if one acre wetland goes out, we only have to
replace it with one acre. And then we also had an amendment on the what the the rail system that went up to Big Lake on how that money if there is any money left over once that is shut down to give it back to the communities
that put the money into it. And also at the legis at the AMC for those three days I went to a couple conferences there. One was uh Indian affairs, one was about trash and a couple others.
And then the f the last day of the AMC, we had voted on our amendments and they all passed for the whole committee. And I would like to give a shout out for our very own commissioner Mojo when she was elected as a second vice president of
there. So going forward in next three years, I think it is, she'll be president of the AMZ if it all follows through. So I just want to give a shout out to her. Congratulations, sir. She's not here right now, but I assume she'll be here for taxation. And that is all my reports. >> Thank you, Commissioner Everer.
>> Thank you. Um, Wednesday the 3rd of December, I got up early and went to the Quanas Club. I was requested to come and brief them on county issues. a really good, engaged, knowledgeable group of people, asked great questions,
and knew a whole lot more about uh our community than than uh the average citizen does. It was a a great opportunity to discuss some of the current issues with them. Um later that day, I attended the Northwest Emergency
Communication Board meetings virtually. Um the good news, one of the reports was from uh Brian Zastipel uh who is the technical advisor for the Northwest
region but also for triple RDC and uh as of that day which was the third the new dispatch center was up and running and they were dispatching calls out of it. So long hard many many hours years and and effort put forward from by
a lot of people to make that happen. So, that was good news. Um, later that day or no, I'm sorry, Thursday the 4th, I had an AMC public safety policy committee pre-conference
call uh very similar to Commissioner Bear's uh with his committee. We were discussing our pending uh uh amendments to our platform that we were going to discuss with the entire committee when
uh we get together at AMC. And uh Friday, Clay Becker Partnership for Health. It was the premier or the the uh first meeting with the two new partners, us and Becker County. Uh,
Commissioner Bear did a good job of describing the events there, but it's good to have this thing up and running, paperwork done, and we're going to going to do our job on the 4th. Bear with me. I've got a lot of notes
here. Okay. Uh, Sunday the 12th. Oh, no. Sunday the 7th through Tuesday the 9th, I attended the AMC conference. Again, we uh first day of the of the
meeting, we had our public pol public safety policy committee meeting. Uh came up with um our uh recommended legislative uh positions. Uh the psychiatric residential treatment
facility presentation uh was given by Commissioner Mojo and County Administrator Larson. They did a great job. There's a lot of interest in this. Social services has interest in it. Um obviously corrections and public safety
has interest in it. Uh these are these are things that uh I think we're going to really we've got some support and the ball's rolling and I hope that bodess well for us in the legislature this year. Um again I also want to extend
congratulations Commissioner Mojo. She did has done a great job representing this county and working with AMC to advance the concerns with the legislature the counties have. and she will continue to do so only now
she is second vice president three years out from being president. So congratulations to her. Um again bear with me. Oh, I did have on the
Tuesday the 9th while at the the committee at or while at the AMC conference, I ducked out to uh virtually attend the um treatment court initiative committee uh law enforcement subcommittee meeting. It's the first one
we had and there were discussions on how to draw law law enforcement in to support the treatment court initiatives that we're we're working on right now. And then Monday today, I had a pick meeting
um without going into too much detail since none of these issues have come up. We usually have a pick meeting uh early enough to get them on the agenda, but uh we we discussed several issues uh today
that we'll we'll see in upcoming uh agendas. And that completes my report. >> All right. Thank you, >> Rabinoff. >> Thank you. Um on December 2nd, I had the
um our quarterly law library um meeting u uh run by um Judge Rosenfeld. Uh anyway, this law law library, excuse me, that we have on the
lower floor in this building uh is funded by the state based on the number of cases that we have here in this district. Um, so our financials are in good shape and we also have a new employee on board now uh running the
clinic during clinic hours. On the third um we had our lobbyists uh we had team meetings for with our lobbyist for strategic uh strategies going forward with the PRTF and the nonsecured uh
building. uh we were getting lined up at that time uh to meet with the governor's aid which we did uh the following Monday and uh we prepared for that and I think we had a
very good conversation and um uh the aid was familiar with our lobbyist and good discussion and one step closer to the governor. So, we'll see where that goes in if we get on the budget, the governor's budget.
Um, then also already been me mentioned by Commissioner Bear at the Klay County Collaborative. I I think the only thing I would add on that is it was um again giving direction uh for the schools in
in how they would um the investments they may do as they apply uh for grants. Um, let's see. Thursday, Friday, uh, Administrator Larson, I, and Steve
Summers from, um, Solutions Mental Health. We had a two-day meeting in uh, with the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council, held at Jackpot Junction in Morton, Minnesota.
Two full days, two long full days, but very good days. Uh anyway, at the in the our part there was to uh give our presentation of what we're we've been u we're moving
forward for the nonsecure building. Uh and we did get a human unanimous decision of a signed resolution by the uh council that all 11 tribes do support our work. Also as part of that we had
time to meet the commissioner of public safety, commissioner of uh uh department of uh children, youth and families uh which was very good among others that were there and kudos once again to
representative uh uh Keeler who is in attendance um for her part in that presentation and and and introductions and helping us build a relationship with tribal leaders.
Um that was those two days and Sunday through Wednesday I too was at the AMC annual conference. I did start out with a seminar involving the Indian affairs and their services. Um also uh I'm part of public health and
human services moving forward uh was mainly information that will be giving data to the state to find efficiencies uh to help us u um get keep the state in
line uh so they aren't putting disability waiverss on us and the state does its job to keep uh funing those u disability waiverss as they have in the past. Uh also um the other thing moving forward will be updates to the
modernization of the state's uh reporting session u system with social services and then also there is framework being done as we have further discussions about we call it the act the Minnesota African-American family
preservation child welfare disproportionality act that's why we call it the act And uh that will be going in effect in January 1st 27. And mainly uh it's going to be a hard lobby that um this should
not be on us for resources. This was brought about by the state should be paid by the state. Also, maybe there's um and this will be more controversial, but are there certain reforms we have to the act? But we see where the
legislation goes. Um then on Thursday um I had uh CAP LP uh finance and board of directors meeting uh many things pres presented at that meeting um uh already been
mentioned. We did have the o uh official signing of the u of the um agreement between cap and reach which is out in Holly and they will be uh brought
together it'll it'll be under um cap locally out there it'll be still called reach uh as for now and then uh we had head start policy training uh given by staff The next day I had um the county
education or county extension service um uh quarterly meeting. There too we were given a good summation of what had happened with the clubs and the outreach that they had done for the year as given by the regional director. So just really
good to see the activity that's happening in that and the 300 service clubs that we have in the state. um really effective work with these young uh young kids for future leadership and
missing one. Um I can't remember where it was. Doesn't matter. That's good. Thank you. >> All right, we will take a five minute break. All right, we are back in session. At this point in time, we will move into
our truth and taxation um information. I want to point out uh we have with us today, I think most if not all of our department heads are here. Uh thank you to all of you for being here for this. Uh for those of you
who are here to this is a this is a time when we go over the budget and tax levy highlights. This is how it impacts your property taxes. What this meeting is not is about your property tax valuations.
If you are here about property tax valuations, we do have uh our assessor's office. Uh we do have people next door straight across the hall. If you have questions regarding your your propert with them, but because this is not a
this is not the hearing that we uh deal with with property tax values so or property assessed values. So with that, I am going to ask our administrator, Steve Larson, to um go through this process.
>> Well, thank you, Mr. Chair. You nailed that. So my first page is done. U so good evening, Mr. Chair, members of the commission. Uh with that, uh I'd like to to start our presentation. Uh but first, if there are any questions, uh please uh please let me know. As you know, uh this
budget process started back in May. uh our department heads prepared uh and presented their proposed budget first to the county administrator and auditor treasur and then ultimately came before this board uh for presentations. You had the opportunity to review and provide directions and numerous adjustments were
made over the last several months based on that guidance. On September 16th, 2025, uh resolution 25-22 established a preliminary levy uh approving an increase at 6.46 46 allowing Alder Treasurer Lori Johnson to
certify the preliminary levy required by Minnesota state statute. Tonight, uh I will be presenting the 2026 proposed budget information package based on that uh certified preliminary levy. Uh now, commissioners, before I go into my first
slide, I'll pause and ask if there's any questions or anything else that you would like to discuss prior to our first slide. Great. Uh thank you commissioners. Our first slide should look very familiar. We've been we've had a different version of
this going over for the last uh the last four months. Uh and again this this is a summary by levy that allows us to this provides us the information of how we arrived at 6.46. We are going to go into detail
throughout this presentation on this uh this the information this document. And so I just wanted to to provide this first uh to to remind everyone how we arrived at where we had we are and we'll go into greater detail. The first document, the next slide that we have is
our county levy uh tax that we're going to be requesting. Uh this amount represents the maximum amount uh that we can request of our citizens. Uh that number for for 2026 is 48,233,76. Our levy is broken into five uh major
categories. The first category is the general reserve fund. Uh that is 20 27 million 9990,46 or roughly 58.03% of the levy. Social services is
14,94,276 or 29.22% of the levy. Road and Bridges uh is 5,23,949 or 10.2 excuse me, 10.42% of the levy. Uh debt retirement uh is1,79,689
or 2.24%. Uh that that encapsulates two different bonds or capital improvement bond uh of different projects that will be coming suns setting in 2029. Uh and also this is the first year that the DMV uh is in
debt retirement. Uh also we have the building funds building improvement funds of 009%. Uh through the property tax collection process, Miss Johnson allocates the collected dollars to the appropriate fund categories. Uh we'll address these
areas in more detail later in the presentation. Any questions on the tax levy? All right. Uh then the next slide is going to focus on our total budget expenditures. Right now we are proposing a128,539,419
uh dollar uh expenditure proposal. Uh this breaks this slide breaks down the expenses into 12 major categories. the general reserve which is 39 million uh $20,997 or 30.36%.
Social services which is $31,69 or $69,659 or 24.17%. Road and bridges is 19,833,229 or 15.93%.
Public health is 11 thou 11,367,491 or 8.84%. The juvenile detention facility is 10,251 or excuse me $251,218 or 7.98%.
Solid waste uh is $6,54,51 or 4.71%. The debt retirement uh is $5,100,768 or 3.97%. Internal service uh is 3,789
$789,000 30 cheapers 3,789,653 or 2.95%. The family service center is1,852,358 or 1.44 44%. And then the major improvement fund uh which uh through
through budget process it would be out of the fund 19 that we discuss throughout the year is year is 150,000 or.12%. Uh or the building and the building improvement fund which we talk it through as as fund 13 is $50,000 or 04%.
It's important uh for our citizens to recognize that uh here through this list, Solid Waste, the family service center and the juvenile detention uh center secure program are enterprise funds uh meaning the revenue that their services support their operations and
they do not directly impact the levy. Are there any questions at all on the on the uh expenditures? Steve, while you're on that particular page there, the I I think it's important to point out when we when we look at the budget
expenditures of 128,539,000 and we compare that to the proposed levy preliminary levy that was established of 48,233. That difference of $80 million is basically pass through dollars between the federal and state governments. So,
you know, so when you look at those um differences, you know, we have a levy of 48 million, but they were actually responsible for expenditures of 128 million. So, just for the public who might be watching, that's that's why
those differences are there. They're pass through dollars. And uh if we take a look at uh that at the levy history, this shows our levy history from uh 2018 through 2026 proposed. Uh the p the past spread levies of increases of range between
4.77% and 4 7.5%. Uh this board recognized the importance and value of our employees and the important of offering a competitive wage. Our employees are the backbone of the work that gets carried out daily.
market studies uh have been completed to ensure that we can recruit and retain our amazing staff. Uh in this list, you'll see on the right side there's two uh two areas that have asterisks. Uh this indicates a year in which an a market study was implemented. Klay
County is fortunate to uh to have a growth and new construction. Generally over the years we we see anywhere from increase from 1.04% to 1.25% 25% uh easing the levy impact. In addition to new construction, uh this
board from time to time will also utilize one-time reserve funds when appropriate to offset the levy pressure. These funds may become available due to higher than expected revenues, lower than anticipated growing, lower than anticipated expenditures, or a
combination of both. Uh this year the commission has approved uh the utilization of $834,232 coming from the general fund. As one of the fastest growing counties in the state of Minnesota, this board continues to emphasize stable, predictable levy increases to meet the growing needs of
the county and to maintain the ability to serve the citizens of Klay County at the level they've come to expect. This board has faced many challenges over the past year with state funding cuts both at both state and federal legislation that has shifted costs to the counties.
This board continues to apply disciplined fiscal management resulting in a 6.46 preliminary levy. As you may recall, this pres this percentage uh when this when the information was first first presented showed a 12.56%
increase. At the end of this present presentation, I plan to present a document from the state of Minnesota auditor's office that captures the outcomes and benefit of the consistency setting levies by our board. >> Steve, can I ask a question on on that
particular page? The are where we show the 6.46 net after construction for 2026. Are the previous years preliminary levy numbers or are they actual numbers?
what >> these so yeah so that 4.45 in 2025 was actual >> that's correct >> and where we're we're this presentation that 6.6 6.46 is preliminary. >> That's correct. >> Of which we've already done some things
that are going to be bringing that down. >> That's correct. >> Right. Okay. >> So we're comparing in that one preliminary to actual for the other years. >> Any other questions? commissioners. Uh the next slide gives us a a look at
the the county budget history of revenues and expenditures. Uh again, uh revenues by major categories. Again, our are our our taxes obviously are one source, but we also have, as Commissioner Campbell noted earlier, we have state and federal government funds
that that we receive. There's fees that we that we charge for service here at the county. There's fines and forfeitures. There's interest on investments. Uh and the total proposed revenues uh for 2026 are 125 million
90,440. Uh if you look at our our next slide, we've we've talked about the information here. U here the the expenses is $128,539,419. Uh as you can see uh there's a gap uh there's a gap between the revenues and
expenditures and it's important that we're clear with our citizens that this is not a matter of deficit spending. Rather it's a gap in creating our department it is rather it is the gap that is created by our departments utilizing internal service when saving for larger purchases or projects. These
dollars are going to be spent and recogniz recognized financially in 2026 but have been budgeted for multiple years. the the funds utilized will make up the difference between the revenues and the expenditures. Internal service funds continue to be important tool that
this board utilizes in managing expenses and avoiding levy spikes all while allowing the county to plan for long-term needs. Uh and the slide before you here uh just provides an example uh again that each year we are we do have
revenues or expenditures over revenues. uh but the shows the importance that that internal service uh funds bring forward. Summary of of expenditures by departments. This is something that we've gone over several times uh during
our budget uh budget discussions. It's not something that I plan to go through, but I did highlight uh several areas over the next few slides just to provide some context uh where you see some either significant increases or decreases. Uh the first area uh happens
to be in my budget. Uh if you recall after the budget was uh established last year, uh the board uh uh allowed uh a the half-time ad HR position, halftime administrator position to move to a full-time assistant administrator. Uh
and so that this is the first time that that's being captured uh in our budget. As we talked about through the planning uh piece, uh we also then had a another full-time position uh which was utilized uh in the in uh the communications
department GIS uh to help me uh that was not filled as part of this budget process. Uh the internal accounting uh again uh this is just a cost of the audits uh and and that's really is a timing issue. uh the state doesn't always send their bills in a uh specific
amount of time and so next year uh we had a 100% increase because we're looking at having to pay uh two different accounting uh cycles audits uh personnel and HR we saw a decrease in the salaries of 16.75%
uh again that was with Darren moving on out of that role and uh and Anna taking over uh in that position so major salary the major differences the salary adjustments. The county attorneys uh v victim witness we saw uh an increase of
23.86%. Uh again if you recall this board in the past has utilized ARPA money uh and also public safety funding which is now sunseted and so this is the first time that that position is being captured in the budget.
uh grounds and and buildings. Again, Joe continues to to tweak uh the cost of of each of our we're looking at trying to have the actual cost of each facility with that becomes becomes tied to different staff uh people. And so with
the staffing, the cost reallocations, and the new buildings that we've saw for the first time uh in the budget cycle with the with the detoxification, withdrawal management, and the DMV, uh we did see an adjustment there. Uh the last item here is the the medical
examiner. Unfortunately, uh that is just tied to the needs that we're seeing in our communities. And so we did see a 10 point uh 10.34% increase. Uh the the next item uh would be public health. The the we saw a decrease there
of 16.42%. Uh if you recall earlier this fall, the board made the decision to to remove detox withdrawal management from the public health budget and have it be a standalone in 2026. Uh and so that
captures that issue. Uh Metro Council saw a 28.64% decrease. I think just a reminder for our citizens, the Metrocog Council breaks their budget really into two categories, operations and overhead. Uh funding for Metrocog is primar primarily
done through the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Admission Administration. And there's a 20% local match that's required uh to receive these funds regionally. And that's where we talk about our metrocog uh
uh percentages. And the second part is also then the the contracted planning services. At times there are additional fees for contracted consulting services for specific projects approved by Metro Cog policy board and they're not always there's not always contracted planning
which is what what is attributed to that uh decrease this year. Um cultural diversity had a 100% decrease as this board knows. We've had many challenges across this year across this year and we had uh we
do have several agencies that that are non-county that receive uh different funds that we had to make either adjustments in the percentage of the request held them flat decreased or or ceased uh providing funding this year. And that was one of the areas uh
appropriation for the Chamber of Commerce uh saw a decrease of 85,000 or excuse me up to $85,000 contribution after the preliminary levy set. You may recall you did adjust this and that will be talked about later in the in the uh
2026 budget discussion. Uh the next uh the next item is down in juvenile detention the 12 bed non-secure pro non-secure facility. Uh we talked about the secure facility being an enterprise fund. The the 12 bed non-secure which is more than 12 beds
now uh but uh is a is a uh is part of the county facility. We saw 11% 11.42% increase as you recall uh this past year. uh James and his staff uh with the support of the funding of this board
increased to a up to a 10 or I think it was up to a 12 bed female clips program. uh and so again this would be the first time that we would be seeing uh those salaries added uh to that uh that the other thing that you're seeing is that there are challenges in finding
placement beds for for all levels of care uh but for this particular case non-secure placements and so we are seeing more Klay County youth that are in need of those services uh and are are staying home for the programs. Uh if we go over to the right side here,
the existing land landfill again with the with the resource recovery facility addition several years ago. Corey continues uh to work and tweak the budget uh of making sure that we have the allocations in the in the most appropriate spot. Uh and this is more of
a shift necessarily than than an addition. central central administration uh sawund 107% increase. Uh again, that's a salary allocation that as Joel continues to tweak, it's not necessarily an increase.
It's a shift from some of the other different departments of how his time is allocated. Uh and then the last item is the debt retirement to the DMV, uh which which we addressed earlier, uh in the presentation. With that, I'd yield for any questions
on on expenditures by departments. >> Questions. >> All right. The next portion uh of our of our discussion is going to deal with the real estate uh valuations. Again, just a reminder uh from from the the first item
here, this is the 2025 assessment for the 2026 property tax. Again, this section identifies the the first first tier agriculture homestead homestead limit excluding the house garage and the first acre of land uh from $3.5 million
uh dollars in 2024 uh to $3.8 million uh for this property tax year. The Department of Revenue calculates and certifies the first year valuations limit annually based on a formula that compares the preceding year and the statewide average of the taxable market
value. The second part of this slide deals with the market value exclusion uh again with the base uh at starting at 95,000 and the overall value qualifying for the exu ex exclusion uh this year is $517,200.
At the point of uh and a point of understanding for our citizens is the higher value of the home parcel, the less homestead uh homestead exclusion a taxpayer receives. Uh and so uh again this is a document that uh we present that if the board
were to approve uh the the budget as it sits as a preliminary levy. Uh this breaks down uh breaks down what the evaluations what the increases or decreases would be for the county, the school district, the city or
township, the EDA, and the watershed. Uh and so if you if this budget were to pass as presented, uh this is based on a a $250,000 home in the city of city of Morehead, uh with the understanding that if the evaluations the valuations of the
property had stayed the same from last year. Now, we know that that that doesn't happen. We're fortunate to live uh in a in an area where the value of our homes increases. Maybe not at the tax perspective, uh but uh we have that breakdown. So when you look at the
documents here today, um the the county portion would see an increase of $2248 per year for the year or a two 2.1419% increase. The the school district saw a
decrease of 17.97 9 $17.97 or a 1.69%. But just to be clear, this does not include uh the referendum that just recently passed uh this past November in the city of Morehead. Uh the city and
the township uh here would see an increase of $76 and 911, an increase of 6.07%. Uh the EDA remained relatively flat. Uh and the watershed had a eight $8 uh and
18 cent decrease, which equates to 22.0% 0% increase. So the citizens of Morehead who own property with the market value of 250,000 assuming no change in value in from the previous year and assuming all the budgets stayed where they were set during the preliminary levy, uh the
the citizen in the city of Morhead would see an increase of $73 14 per year or a 2.13% increase. Any questions? Uh I think that the the next area that we're going to discuss is a summary of
estimated market values. Uh why that's important is in Minnesota the summary of estimated market value is important as it's a foundational information used in establishing a county levy because it defines the tax base against which we will levy the levy will be spread. In
short, the levy determines how much revenue the county needs. The estimated market value determines that cost, how that cost is distributed among taxpayers. Uh so uh in this document here, we're going to look at the total uh the total estimated market value uh
of uh that's comprised of tillable land, residential and building and commercial and land and building. Uh the main focus of our discussion tonight will be the tillable land and residential. uh for for next year the total estimated market
value of Klay County property or uh was 10 billion528 million525,200. Uh this is an increase from last year of 10 billion2647,200. When we break that down into tillable land, uh the estimated uh value
increased from uh 3 bill191,827, to 3 bill351,66, uh 20200 uh remaining at 3.18% of the total estimated market value. Uh in 2025 we continue to see an increase
in the sales price per acre uh in auctions but the percentage of total market value of the tillable land remained the same. In our residential land and buildings we saw an increase from 4 billion929,13,100
to 5 billion2500 thou500,100. uh we saw a small increase here uh from 49.1% to 49.4%. The total estimate of these two categories is 81.2%
with the remaining 18.8% being attributed to commercial properties. Any questions? Lastly, uh, I would like to reference a document from the state of Minnesota auditors website, specifically the financial comparison tab, which
demonstrates the Klay County Board of Commissioners ongoing commitment to responsible and fiscal fiscal management. This data continues to illustrate how the board's disciplined budgeting practices have resulted resulted in comparatively lower tax levy when measured against other counties in
the state of Minnesota, providing the citizens of Klay County with highquality services that they have come to expect. while doing it in a fiscally responsible manner remains the primary goal of this board. Throughout the budget development, this board consistently emphasized to administration the
importance of establishing a fair sustainable levy each year. The the expectation is communicated to all departments not only through the formal evaluation of the of the department budgets but all through ongoing discussions at monthly department head meetings. As a result of these clear
directives, no new departmental uh funding requests were submitted. The board does not take lightly its responsibility when requesting additional levy dollars from Klay County residents and remains committed committed to prudent stewardship of public funds. I share this document each
year because I believe that it supports the board of commissioners consistent approach and the expectations of our departments to bring forward a budget that meets the needs of the citizens in the most cost-effective means possible by comparing a series of these areas to other counties in Minnesota per capita.
Uh there's four areas that I want to touch again on this year as I have in the past is again the net net levy tax. Klay County sits at number 72 of the 86 counties uh that provide their information. And when I say 72, 72 at
the bottom, uh revenue generated by taxes, again uh 81, Klay County sits at 81 of the 86 counties reporting charges for services uh such as recorders office, planning, zoning, etc. uh is 83
out of 86. and our total current expenditures as a county sits at number 78 out of 85. While Klay County remains one of the fastest growing counties in the state of Minnesota and no citizen welcomes a levy increase, this commission continues to strive to be an
excellent steward of public funds. Uh the information presented in this document supports and reinforces the comments made during uh this evening in regards to the board's commitment to responsible fiscal management. And with that, Mr. Mr. chair uh ends my formal
presentation. >> All right. Any questions or comments from the board? >> One comment, Mr. Chair. >> It says on on this sheet it says Klay County 2022. >> Yes. Thank you, Mr. Bear. Appreciate
that. Uh the the uh state auditor is always at least two years behind. Uh and so that's that's uh we present the newest updated information each year. All right. At this point in time, we'll open up to any citizens who would like
to ask questions. Have any citizens who would like to ask questions? Citizens would like to ask questions. Again, I I guess um I would like to point out that um
all of these presentations were based on what the board did um in September. We're required uh by statute to um authorize a preliminary levy that needs to be done in September. So all of this
presentation that Mr. Larson has provided today is based on those preliminary levy numbers. Uh just to as you're aware or to make you aware since that
preliminary levy uh which in those discussions the numbers the net levy amount after the new construction was at 6.46%. And that that's for all of our citizens who received your uh proposed property
tax uh dollar amounts uh in the mail. I think they probably came out a couple weeks ago. Um that that's what that was based on. Since then, we've done a number of things along with our um county auditor and our county
administration and our staff and we've been able to bring that net levy number down to 4.4. 4% is where we're currently at. So we've dropped that uh 2.06 percentage points since the preliminary levy was done.
And so the so that's going to certainly um help um reduce the from the preliminary levy. So and as as Mr. Larson mentioned I you know and something I think we're
probably close to uh 80% of our expenditures are dealing with staff and you know and it's that's our people that are out there clearing our highways you know it's our deputies doing all
their work so the people involved with child protection all of those areas are significant and important issues uh from probation is here. We got it is here. Planning and zoning issues,
solid waste is here. GIS is here. All of those things are incorporated and they're all things that um I think most of our citizens want us to continue to do.
And I know it's we had a comment earlier about, you know, the how expensive the property taxes are, but uh when you have to try to suggest what might be cut, it becomes a little bit more difficult.
Any any other any other comments that any any citizens want to comment? >> Lauren, do you want to I've got a bit of frog in my throat. So, we'll try and do this. Um, I wanted to talk to you a little bit about the
>> Your name. You want your name for the record? >> My name? >> Yes. >> Oh, I'm I'm Lauren Ingerbritzen. I'm a local farmer and a on my town board for 46 years and I'm on the board of directors for Lake and Prairie's
Community Action. I wanted to talk a little bit about uh the budget that you've proposed and some of the the cuts that you've done and things like that. But I first of all before I do that, I want to talk a little bit about how I
arrived at a budget on my farm. When times were tough and I had to make decisions, I had look over what my costs were and what I wanted to have and what I had to have. And I would look at things like,
can I afford to buy a tractor this year? And for the majority of my life, that was a no because you fixed what you got. My some of my one of my tractors I traded off not so many years ago was 50
years old and it was a it was a workhorse. Of course, it was Alice Chmer's orange. The John Deere people wouldn't. But anyway, the point of that is that you have to take care of what you got and
you guys are doing a budget for the for for the county and really the residents of the county and the entire county is your crop. And so you talked about cutting some bud budget
dollars on the on the rural bus that goes out to senior citizens. That bus provides transportation to and from things for senior citizens, but underneath that all it provides a
way for them to stay in their homes. the cost of of having people be forced to move into into other living places and stuff like that makes the cost of the bus seem relatively low in comparison.
It's an important thing and um there there's a lady here that'll talk a little bit about that too, but the dollars that I could never afford to cut were the maintenance dollars. And to me, this bus that that is just that it
is maintenance for for for for residents in Klay County. It's its wrership has gone down during the co excuse me, sorry. It uh it has it's gone back up again and it is on the rise
again. And so it's an important thing and I'd just like you to I know this is not the meeting that you're going to change those things at, but I'd like you to consider that when you look at it that how important that bus is to people in in their that have reached their
senior years. These are people that have worked their whole lives and lived their a lot of them have lived their whole lives in Klay County and that that ability to stay home in their own home is vital. It's my firm wish that that I'll die on
the farm where I'm at. My wife might facilitate that sooner than you. But anyway, with that that that's that's enough for me, I think. So, thank you. >> Hi, I'm Britney Neswald from Felton. Um,
I'm going to follow up on his thing. My mom is actually one of them that rides the bus. Um, she rides it twice a week to Devita Dialysis in Dworth. Um, without that bus, it'd be very difficult for her to get there. I work full-time job. U, my sister and I take turns
taking care of our mom. So, she'll come for a couple weeks and then I'll take a turn for a couple weeks. So, having that bus has made a world of difference for us. And for my mom to stay home in her home that she grew up in is very important to her. um and for her mental
health and just her well-being in general after a hospital stay, you know, versus going to a rehab or anything like that. Um I would really hate to see the bus service end. Um it really it's really hard to find anybody that can help, you know, when the bus can't come
out or to find another place that will come out to Felton. Um, it's a half an hour drive from Morehead, so cutting the service would really be a damper on a lot of services for her. My name is Mark Hogan and I'm from Holly. And Lauren and Britney have said
it very well. I'd like to just re-emphasize. Um, for the last 30 years I've been a part of REACH in Holly, Rural Enrichment and Counseling Headquarters. And uh we have a volunteer senior driving program. Um my wife and I
and two other community members are volunteer drivers and uh we have been drivers for quite a while. Uh I want to re-emphasize the need um because it is increasing and what we have found in the last uh you know few years is that um a
number of times the four of us are not available and sometimes the individuals uh the seniors will have to um change their appointments. Um most of what we drive are for uh medical are for uh
doctor's appointments. we those are the priorities uh in terms of taking somebody to Walmart or whatever. We just don't have the man manpower to do that. Um so I want to reemphasize that that it's it's an important thing. Um reach
has now been acquired by uh Lakes and Prairie and um we are projecting with the combination of the two that this wrership is going to increase in 2026. um will continue to be the four
volunteers, but there's a bigger need and uh I too agree that I think seniors need to have not only um uh they need to be able to have that independent uh ability to be
able to stay in their homes. Sometimes some of them should not drive for safety reasons to themselves and to others and uh a lot of them have uh have acknowledged that. So, don't forget uh those of us out on the east side of Klay
County. Excuse me. Any other comments, Steve? based on the on the rural transportation, maybe we can have a little bit of that discussion before we do our final levy next. I I
don't I don't recall what what the status of that robust route was. >> U Mr. Chair, we did uh we did remove that from the budget. Uh so currently there's not there's not anything that's allocated. >> Is that through CAP? Uh
>> that's through CAP LP. Yes. But I mean, wasn't there some other options available for senior rides stuff? I I I don't know if we had we talked about we I think we talked about looking at if
there were exploring other ways to utilize those funds to maybe not have the have the the bus uh but or the van but to do it in a different way. But At this point, I don't think anything was brought for forward for that.
>> All right. Well, maybe we can at least revisit that. We've had some requests by the public, so we can uh we can take a look at that next Tuesday. All right. Anything else on the truth
and taxation? Anybody else? Thank you for being here for that. Um staff, thank you for all of all of you for being here tonight to help answer any questions. Lauren, you have >> Yeah, one other thing. I just wanted to
thank the board. >> We have we have people watching online, so we know >> Okay. I just wanted to thank the board because it's not easy to do a budget and you guys do it do the best that you can. you've got that levy down significantly
from where it was. The that bus that I'm talking about is important. The other factor is the bus is already there. So, with that that that's important, but uh but thanks for listening and considering because it it isn't always easy to get people to come in and talk about things
either. So, thank you. >> Thank you. All right, that will conclude our truth and taxation port part of the agenda. Uh we have just a couple things left on our agenda. We will now move to the Klay
County budget. Steve. >> Uh thank you, Mr. Chair. As as you highlighted uh at the end of Truth and Taxation, uh immediately after after we set the preliminary levy, this board asked each of our departments to go back uh and further explore our budgets uh
and identify different different ways that we could look uh to bring that 6.46 down. Uh and as you mentioned uh several things came before you over the over the last several months. Uh and uh just uh just just a note that uh in looking at
the changes that have happened uh in our general fund you made you made additional uh either cuts or revenue increases of $312,548. uh social services uh has certainly been impacted uh by many of the uh the
legislative changes and cost shifts uh that we've talked about. Uh having said that uh they sharpened their pencil uh and we we saw a decrease uh along with uh some additional revenues in contracts
that they had uh and also uh I guess it's not a positive but we've seen an increase uh in in the population that we're serving in our withdrawal management uh which which uh led to a $100,000 decrease uh in in a need from
from the public health budget. Uh and so uh through that process we did uh we did uh add or cut an additional 64,7438. U working with uh with the auditor treasurer uh and anticipating uh just if
any of the new requests uh were approved uh today. Uh there is a in your handout in your packet there's a document uh that uh that shows what that impact would be on the o overall levy. Um, again, the board would have the
opportunity to have additional discussions. Uh, but what we would be looking forward for forward next week would be permission to have Lori uh bring forward a a resolution on the levy and the final budget. Again, that uh she has the ability with her laptop to to do
the magic and give you on demand information. Uh, and so uh that would be one of the things that we would be looking for next week. Uh just to put uh put this in to perspective, this does include uh this does include 4% COLA. Uh
it does include util utilizing $1.5 million in fund balance. Uh we were fortunate enough uh through our through our insurance RFP process, we did have a decrease of our insurance of $43,475. Uh and so that uh that along with about
$200,000 in less county program aid, we were still able to drop, as you mentioned, uh the net levy uh to 4.40. Uh to put this in perspective, for that $250,000 uh homeowner property, uh as you recall
uh in our first uh first slide during truth and taxation, uh we had a county's county's proposal at 6.46 46 uh was $2248 increase or 2.19%.
Uh if the board were to approve the budget as it sits with all of the changes that it made up till tonight, uh you would be you would be looking at a uh $2 an 18 cent increase for the year uh or a.21%
uh increase. Again, that's on a $250,000 home. assuming the valuations the valuations stayed the same from the previous year. So uh quite a significant difference uh in in the adjustments that were made from the preliminary levy.
>> All right. So we'll have a resolution be for us on the 22nd. >> Right. Sounds good. >> 23rd. >> 23rd. >> Right. Thank you, Mr. Le. For the rest of you, if you
don't if you Thank you for being here. If you you're welcome to stay if you want, but I don't think you have to stay if you don't want to. I'm sure a lot of you would like to just I don't think you want to hear our committee report. >> And and Mr. Chair, if I if I could just
you might want to stay for my committee report. If I could could reiterate your thanks to one to the board for the direction uh over the last five months uh and two thank for thanks to this team uh we have a fortunate we're fortunate to have great leaders uh here at Klay
County and and again this was probably one of the most challenging budgets that we've seen uh in several years and appreciate their willingness to to continue to go back sharpen the pencil uh look at different ways to increase revenues uh so we were able to make the adjustments that we were able to
All right. Uh let's see. We also have a w um we do have a request for approval for vacation leave carryover. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh this
is my request. Um I've uh the county policy allows our employees to carry over a maximum of uh 290 hours uh at the at the final pay period uh each year. of those hours that are not utilized uh are
conceded back to the county. Um I'm carrying about 297 hours of vacation. Uh the board I've appreciated the board. They've encouraged me uh to take my time. I've been able to utilize my time with uh Darren helping out. Uh I just I was
doing great until here this late this fall with the with the board or excuse me with the budget process. And so the request that I have before you is I am planning to have planning to take off with the board if the board uh um allows to take the week after Christmas off. Uh
which would be about 44 hours of of vacation. Uh and so the calendar year actually ends this Friday and so I would just be requesting that be allowed to carry those hours over to utilize the phone. >> If it ended on the 31st, you wouldn't have to ask that.
>> That's correct. Sure. Like a motion to approve the authorization for Klay County administrator to carry over 44 hours of unused vacation leave in the subsequent pay period. >> A second. >> A motion by Commissioner Ebinger, second
by Commissioner Kraven. Any further discussion on the motion? Any further discussion? Seeing none, all in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> I. >> Oppose the same sign. Have a nice vacation. >> Thank you very much. >> Do something fun.
>> All right, committee reports. I will move on to my report. Uh I do have to at least talk about a couple of meetings that go back to the because I was gone for a little while. So I I we had a pick
meeting on November 25th that uh you've probably all heard about already. So Sarah, the minutes can show that I attended that meeting and I'm not going to bore you with the stuff that was already presented at that meeting. Um,
and moving on, uh, we did have a my the next thing I had was our AMC conference that went from, um, December 7th through the 9th, Wednesday. Sunday through
>> Yep. the 10th 10th. And the biggest issues there for me, of course, I I am the delegate now on general government and our general government. We had 13 uh amendments
proposed to I think we probably quadrupled any other and and all 13 of those amendments were approved and passed on and went to the floor for approval. I don't need to get into the weeds on them, but there were some that
dealt with property tax reform, cleanup, um solar production. We had a deal regarding um nuclear power. That's now the AMC is has the position where
we're supporting that being looked at as an alternative. Um then uh when I came back from and came back. Oh then I also had the um MCIT
uh meeting that was also there the annual meeting of MCIT and they were the board chair was reelected. Um that's is running really well. I think they're looking at maybe being able to increase
the um coverage for cyber. So, I think that's that's something that could be a positive for us as well. When I got back from that on Thursday the 11th, I attended the Lakes Country
Service Cooperative meeting. basically just uh and we had a budget meeting that I serve on the budget committee for that and or audit committee I should say and the audit was had a very good audit like what we have here. So that was approved
and then this morning we had a personnel issues committee meeting. Uh we did have um several discussions. Um there's going to be a replacement of nonsecured juvenile detention worker
coming before us. there's been some issue with some software regarding it and uh and then there we also had three different things with detox that are coming up that there will be coming
before this board with recommendations and then Anna provided uh asked about the furlow policy and the meal reimbursement rates and all those things. Those are all going to be on our our next agenda. Is that correct? Right.
So, that concludes my report. Steve. Uh thank you, Mr. Chair. December 2nd, uh met with Darren, updated many of the things that were happening over the holiday. Uh on the second, also met with Lori in regards to our budget discussions. Uh the third I met with our
legislative planning meeting that Commissioner Krabman office spoke on. Also met with uh Sheriff Empt that afternoon met with Robert Wilson, Cass County administrator and shared interest in the region. On the fourth and fifth we along with Commissioner
Kavanagh was at the MYAK meeting. Again, uh fortunate fortunate to talk with several commissioners, representatives from Office of Cannabis Management and MMB. Uh the in addition to them signing the resolution, uh they were also
invited us to present uh during their legislative priorities. Uh they'll be host hosting their planning session in January. And so we hope to have uh the two or three of us there at that point. Um
the seventh uh uh we had u Ma I had a MA meeting uh lots of budget discussions also worked on a presentation for the public safety uh committee that following day uh participated in the annual conference uh participated in
part went attended the the general government for a period of time then we also went and presented for that public safety presentation and also met with the governor's office has been been spoken on. Um on the way home, I participated in the legislative planning
meeting with our lobbyist. We updated them on the MYAK, the AMC uh the governor's office meeting and talked about our path forward. Uh on the 11th, we met nonsecured detention BRTF discussion team uh with Representative
Keeler, provided updates there. on the 11th also uh had a meeting with our city county connect with uh with Dan Molly and Derek Le Point. Uh again we talked uh with Derek about his transition uh into his new role and what that may look
like. Again want to thank Derek for all the great work that he's done uh here uh in in uh in Klay County and lifting up the issues that we face here. uh spent uh some time yesterday uh Monday and yesterday Monday today on TNT presentation also participated in a step
three union grievance. Uh we did do want to notify uh the chair the chair was uh provided a document by Scott Dons uh that he's bringing to district court. That's his appeal option uh for the
actions of the planning commission uh and that will be a hearing will be coming uh upcoming. I did have a meeting with with Matt and also uh also Mr. Milton this week. um participated in
the pick meeting. And the last item again uh here is uh just a reminder, you see it probably outside here and around the community. U Morehead uh the Morhead police athletics uh athletics and activities uh fundraiser is going to be here on Friday at the at the coffee for
kids. And so they're taking free will donations. And so if you're here on campus in the courthouse, you can participate in that. That concludes my report. >> Thank you, Brian. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Brian, you have to start coming up with some stuff
because really you Okay, I'll make this quick. Uh 123, I had a discussion with Steve on various topics. Uh also attended a legislative planning session. I worked on the uh 2026 28 grids for the union negotiations and had a meeting
with Matt Jacobson on planning and zoning uh forms. On the fourth, I worked on some early retirement forms and grids. On the 5th, um, I had my annual physical, and you'll be happy to know I've been approved for one more year.
Um, on the 7th through the 10th, I had the AMC conference. Again, it's already been covered. On the 11th, I had a meeting with Anna on some personnel issues. And we also had a CDL discussion with Anna and Corey uh with a uh
employee that's going to be part partly driving sometimes and we wanted to uh compensate him accordingly. On the 12th uh I had an MC meeting virtual on UKG and improv discussions. On the 15th uh
sat in on the step three grievance with Steve and Anna for a formal former social worker. um had also had a meeting with Steve, Brian, and Matt uh discussing the pending uh district court case that uh Steve had just covered. And also today I attended the PIC meeting
and the safety committee meeting. And that concludes my report. >> Thank you, Sarah. Nothing for you. Right. I think we've covered everything. We are adjourned.