Will Gov. Tim Walz call a special session of the Legislature so that lawmakers can take votes on different funding proposals?
Organizations representing school boards, municipalities and counties, along with other stakeholders, sent a letter to Walz, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and members of the House and Senate urging that they do just that.
The letter, signed by 18 entities, encouraged “the prompt convening” of a special session to finalize a supplemental budget and to provide a framework for cannabis regulation, among many other items. “We call upon state leaders to continue engaging with us, your local government partners, to finalize legislation that will serve the entire state,” the letter said.
That sentiment was shared by Scott County commissioners last week as they voted to set the county’s maximum tax levy of $81,014,000, which is an increase of $5.5 million over last year.
It was pointed out throughout the meeting that things could change before the December deadline. “The levy can only go down from this point or stay the same,” Scott County CFO Danny Lenz said.
LACK OF STATE SUPPORTOne of the biggest issues with the budget, according to Lenz, is a “significant” lack of funding from the state.
Specifically, he pointed to no changes to mental health and community corrections funding or to deputy registrar fees—despite costs increasing in those areas. He also pointed to a decline in funding for child protection and chemical dependency programs. Lenz said the increases in funding the county did receive don’t cover the increased costs for the county.
Lenz also pointed to technology licensing costs as another major expense in the budget.
Commissioner Michael Beard said he expects that there will be pushback from other municipalities and agencies regarding the funding from the state, noting the combination of inflation, skyrocketing property values and the state budget surplus.
“We’re living within the system we have,” Beard said.
Like the commission, Lenz said the county administration is hoping to get more support from the state. “We’ve been hoping for some significant activity in the Legislature to help fund some of these state-mandated services that counties have to fund,” he said.
ADDITIONAL
LEVY AMOUNTSAs part of the proposed budget request, the biggest levy increase comes from the Scott County Sheriff’s Office—$1.176 million. The Health and Human Services Department also had over a $1 million increase for a total of $1,006,527.
Other neutral departments included customer service at $782,034, property and resource management at $576,274, and administration, which had an increase of $480,750.
As a way to keep the budget as manageable as possible, Lenz said, the administration told departments not to put anything in their budgets that they don’t need. “We told departments not to submit any budgeting requests unless there was something that was contractually obligated,” he said.
Lenz noted during the meeting that the county began the budget process earlier this year and changed the process by having a budget presentation from every single department. He said that it was a way for the county commissioners to better understand the different budgets.
“I believe that we had really good discussions at those,” he said.
The County Board was expected to take a final vote on the budget and levy on Dec. 20 with the public hearing slated for Dec. 8.