MALE SPEAKER: Tomorrow is a national holiday, Constitution
Day, and I lived a good portion of my life
without even realizing that.
But I'm going to start and just read the preamble
of the US Constitution.
And it states, "We, the people of the United States,
in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice,
ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense,
promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty
to ourselves and to our prosperity,
do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United
States of America."
So with that in mind, and with all of the discourse that we've
had over the last several weeks, I just
want to remind everybody that we do
live in a truly remarkable republic
and we are truly blessed.
And I pray that we can find common unity,
discuss our differences in a fair, open, and non-violent way.
Regardless of where we're at on the political side--
left, right, conservative, liberal--
I think we all agree that violence is not the answer
and it just leads to our broken country.
So with that in mind, I would like to just
do a moment of silence to pray for our country,
Pray for Charlie Burke's widow, his family,
and pray for healing.
So let's just take one moment of silence
and say a prayer for our country.
Thank you.
We'll start with the Pledge.
ALL: I pledge allegiance to the flag, of the United States
of America, and to the Republic for which
it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty
and justice for all.
MALE SPEAKER: At each committee of the whole work session,
the floor will be open to solicit
public comments on items on the agenda
after they have been presented.
A comment card will need to be filled out prior to speaking.
Public comments will be limited to three minutes for each person
upon the discretion of the county board chairperson.
And we will start with roll call, I guess.
FEMALE SPEAKER: Mallika?
MALE SPEAKER: Yes.
FEMALE SPEAKER: Peters?
MALE SPEAKER: Here.
FEMALE SPEAKER: Hoisington?
MALE SPEAKER: Here.
FEMALE SPEAKER: Perfeerst?
MALE SPEAKER: Here.
FEMALE SPEAKER: Underdahl.
MALE SPEAKER: Here.
MALE SPEAKER: First on our agenda
is property tax and elections.
But Denise is not going to speak.
I believe Dean is on Circle Lake, Rice County.
DEAN: Good morning, gentlemen.
MALE SPEAKER: Good morning.
MALE SPEAKER: Morning.
DEAN: This is your update for the Circle Lake
Improvement District for 2025.
I do have Cheryl Bonsen.
She's our treasurer here with me today,
and Bill Houston, he's our vice chair to back me up today
on today's presentation.
We'll go to the next slide.
And it's just a reminder of what the Circle Lake Improvement
District is trying to do, and that's
to improve the water quality of the lake
to the point where we can get off the and
MPCA's impaired waters list.
We go to the next slide, just to remind you
our four critical impairments.
And then the next slide, those four critical impairments
are what causes or contributes to the cyanobacteria
or blue-green algae and foul odor
that we have out on the lake through the summer season
occasionally.
We can move to the next slide.
Our solution is a three pronged approach.
I've talked to you about this before through the years,
as we've tried to identify the problems
and try to figure out what exactly we can do
to resolve them, we've come up with this three
pronged approach.
We need to get air, dissolved oxygen into the lake.
So we need to aerate the lake.
There are products that will sequester the phosphorus or make
the phosphorus that is in the lake-- and we have way too
much phosphorus in this lake--
sequester that.
And then there are biological agents
that we can add to the lake to help digest that muck that's
in the bottom of the lake.
So before I move on to the next slide,
the phosphorus sequestration effort
was something that we had in front
of you, actually, this year.
We had a company present a proposal to us
for adding a phosphorus sequestration agent to the lake.
It was far, far too expensive for us to fund on our own.
So they were helping us get a grant proposal in front
of Congresswoman Jenny Craig.
We asked for letters of support for us
and for that grant application.
We want to make sure that you know
how much we appreciate the letter that you
had Sarah draft on our behalf.
We had almost 30 residents and businesses
around the lake that wrote letters of support
for this effort.
Clean Water Partners wrote a letter of support
for this effort, and also the Sheriff's Department weighed in.
So all of those letters of support
went in with this grant application to Jenny Craig,
to Congresswoman Craig to help us get that funded.
But unfortunately, we didn't make the cut.
We didn't make it.
So we'll move on to the next slide
to talk about the three pronged approach, I mentioned before.
We've tried to fund it as a whole package.
It's been way too expensive, so we've had to break
it into individual segments.
So the first segment that we've started to focus on this year
is aeration.
We can move on to the next slide.
And then it looks like this this year-- onto the next slide.
It's a combination of a surface aerator.
And I've labeled this incorrectly, the nano bubbler.
It's actually a small bubble diffuser and nanobubbler
or small bubble diffuser.
It just talks to the size of the bubbles
that these units are producing.
That fine bubble diffuser is a little bit bigger bubble
than the nanobubbler, so that was
my mistake when I labeled that.
But between these two units, they
create a large bubble of aerated water
that is then moved throughout the lake
as the water flows throughout the lake.
This will ultimately, and going into 2026,
will actually be three of these fine bubble diffusers that
will circle a surface aerator.
And we're going to deploy them in three different spots.
So we'll go on to the next slide.
This is currently where the aerator is located.
The DO recorder is taking dissolved oxygen readings
at three different levels in the lake,
and we're seeing results from this, just this first unit--
this kind of prototype unit--
We're seeing results of this aeration moving out at 400 feet
away from the unit right now.
We've measured it at 200 feet.
We've measured it at 400 feet.
And we'll continue moving the DO recorders out until we
find the limit as to what this oxygen plume,
this bubble of dissolved oxygen in the water, how far it moves.
And it's moving from the surface all the way
down to the bottom of the lake.
So we're really excited about the success
that we're having with this.
If we'll go up to the next slide,
the white arrows are the maps.
This is how the water flows through Circle Lake.
So the red dot is where the aerator is currently located.
The blue dot down here on the bottom on the right,
if you move that dot to the right a little bit,
or to the east, that's where the next unit will go for 2026.
And again, it will be a single surface
aerator surrounded by three small bubble diffusers.
And then up at the top, that blue dot
is where we will locate another unit, same as the others.
And then, as we watch this project develop,
there are a couple other locations where
we might add a total of five.
We're just figuring out how effective this is
and how far this dissolved oxygen moves out.
And we have to have this dissolved oxygen in the lake
for the lake to be healthy, so that it can continue to support
not only the wildlife in there in the lake,
but the bacteria that's in the lake
that helps dissolve the muck.
And also, the fact that when the oxygen in the lake
goes to 0 at the bottom, that's how that phosphorus gets
released.
That phosphorus is what the algae uses to grow and bloom.
And then the cycle of foul odor and foul water continues.
So that's our plan, as far as the three pronged approach.
We may-- depending on how this works out,
there are some biological agents where we might have some test
spots where we add some of that just to see how effective
these different products work as far as digesting the muck
in the bottom of the lake.
And that's something that we're looking at as well.
So that's what we've worked at on the aeration
aspect of our three pronged approach for 2025.
Moving on to the next slide, we're
talking about weeds for 2025.
The next slide is the areas that we treated for weeds.
It's curly leaf pondweed that is our major invasive species.
We have a little bit of milfoil, but it's basically
mostly curly pondweed.
The area in green hash there is where we treated,
came to about 93 acres this year, and it was very effective.
And beyond that initial flush of weeds that we took care
of with the herbicide treatment, our weeds this year
have been very, very minimal.
And so that's worked out really, really well.
That weed project was funded by a $5,000 grant
that came through Rice County.
And then the Circle Lake Association gave us $12,000
to put towards weed control.
We did not get a grant from the DNR this year for weeds.
We didn't get one last year.
We didn't get one this year, same thing.
It's a lottery and we just didn't get picked.
So that's how that works.
The hazard buoys, hazard to navigation buoys are out there.
We want to make sure that the Sheriff's
Department, Nathan Bodine--
if you can, Joe, let them know how much we appreciate it--
if we go to the next slide--
appreciate them.
They put the buoys out for us in the spring
and they retrieve them in the fall.
We'll be setting that up here pretty soon.
So, Joe, if you let the Sheriff's Office
know how much we appreciate that-- the water patrol--
thank you.
We move on to the next slide, and I
wanted to let you know that the Circle Lake Improvement District
now has a quarterly newsletter.
Bill Houston is our editor on that.
He does a really great job.
That was included in your meeting packet.
What you see here is just kind of half of the front page,
but it's in your meeting packet if you'd care to look at that.
It's a great educational tool and vehicle that we
get out to the community.
It's available to them all the time through our website,
and so we're real happy that Bill is doing this and getting
that information out there.
So we'll move to the next slide.
For 2026, this is what we're looking at to do.
The one thing I haven't spoken about is any watershed projects.
We are looking at into watershed projects
as they come to our attention.
And then the next slide is our financial.
So I'll stop right here and ask, is there any questions
about what I've covered so far, what we've done for 2025
and what we're looking like we're going to do for '26?
No?
MALE SPEAKER: Go ahead.
MALE SPEAKER: Mr. Chair, thank you.
Dean, my question is, treating for this muck,
what happens to it?
DEAN: It just biodegrades, but it can't do it without oxygen.
MALE SPEAKER: But what is in the muck?
Sand and just dirt?
DEAN: Dirt and sand and biological material from--
the algae grows, it dies, it sinks to the bottom of the lake.
The weeds grow, they die.
They sink to the bottom of the lake.
So it's organic material that is just resting in the bottom
of the lake, trying to decay.
But when it does, it uses up all the oxygen.
And then the phosphorus that's in the soil
in the bottom of the lake starts getting released.
And the whole cycle starts all over again.
MALE SPEAKER: So this just dispenses throughout
the whole lake, then?
DEAN: Yes, sir.
MALE SPEAKER: Thank you.
MALE SPEAKER: Anybody else?
So, Dean, how are you powering these aerators?
DEAN: It's electric.
They're electric powered.
MALE SPEAKER: Electric?
So is that coming off somebody's power in someone's home?
DEAN: In the particular site we have right now,
there's actually a power pole down there that is--
I believe it was installed quite a number of years
ago when the Tri-Lakes Sportsman's
Club was aerating that part of the lake in the winter time.
So there's a transformer and a power pole
down there on one of our member's properties.
We have a lease agreement with him to access that site,
and we're powering this particular unit
off of that power pole.
So we have our own meter and that's how that's going to go.
On the other two sites, that will
be power that will be provided by the resident,
and we'll figure out a way to compensate them.
I don't know how that's going to go.
And you reminded me, as just a side note,
is that Benjamin Berry area where we have the aerator right
now will be an area that we will aerate throughout the winter
to support the fish and also continue trying to get oxygen
into the lake water as well.
That will look like that surface aerator
that I showed you plus two more.
There'll be three of them.
We won't use the bottom diffusers,
but we'll put three of the surface aerators
out there to keep an open section of water
throughout the winter.
MALE SPEAKER: Well, good.
Well, I appreciate what you're doing.
It's incremental.
It's an uphill battle.
But I'm glad that you're addressing
it the best way you can.
DEAN: And the thing we're really excited about, like I
said, is we're seeing results and we've
got something that's modular.
It's transferable.
If we can really get it dialed in, we can use it.
You can use it on other lakes, and it's affordable.
It's not like these multi-million dollar projects
that I've been talking to you about in previous years.
This is something that we can afford,
that we can pay for ourselves-- not that we're not looking
for grants and the like to expand these things,
but this is something that's wet.
It's in the water, it's being tested.
And we're real excited.
MALE SPEAKER: You're doing what you can.
DEAN: We're doing what we can.
Exactly, sir.
Thank you.
So we'll go over our financials real quick.
Year to date income, we've brought in about $58,000.
The two points I want to make on this slide,
I mentioned the $12,000 from the Circle
Lake Association for weeds.
They also gave us a $15,000 to go towards the aeration project.
Next slide, please.
We've spent about $75,000.
The big number there is the projects
which will be broken out in the next slide,
if we can move to that.
So we've spent a little over $27,000 on the lake restoration
project or the aeration project, and a little
over $40,000 for weeds.
We'll go to the next slide.
This is the estimated income and expenses
for the rest of the year.
The top number is the second half of the assessment
that will come in.
This is really great, guys.
The second number is $22,000.
We had a member get up at our annual meeting in August that
challenged the group, challenged the membership
to match a $1,000 donation that he was
going to make to the district.
That challenge generated $22,000 in donations from the district.
So we're really excited about that
and we certainly appreciate that kind of support.
It shows you the involvement and the dedication
that our members have towards getting this lake cleaned up.
So you see the number for the estimated expenses
for the remainder of the year.
We might be a little bit low on that number
because we didn't know we were going to have
that windfall of $22,000.
We may find that we spend a little bit more
on the aeration project, just because if we buy something now,
it might be cheaper than waiting for it next year.
I don't think we'll spend the $4,800 for weeds.
There's just no weeds in the lake right now,
but there was about $5,000 left over in the budget
for weeds if we had a milfoil problem,
and we don't at this point.
We're looking at somewhere just north
of $98,000 in the bank at the end of the year,
if this kind of pans out.
So we'll go to the next slide.
And this is the vote.
You can go to the next slide.
We had 42 parcels vote at our annual meeting,
and there are the results of that.
They approved, and then we can go on to the next slide.
This is the budget that was sent out to our membership.
This is the budget that they approved.
I've broken it down into the income and expense
side for the next slides.
So if we can go up one more, on the income side
of the approved budget for 2026, for this budget,
we carried over $70,000.
The membership approved a $400 per parcel assessment.
That's going to generate us around $66,800.
The grants, I put this grant DNR weed in here
just because we just don't think we're
going to get any money from the state.
We've always had budgeted $10,000 from the DNR,
but I don't think that's going to happen this year.
I'm not sure that they're going to have any money for weeds
at all.
But certainly, if they do, we'll apply for it,
but we're not counting on it.
As far as we know, the $5,000 that comes through the County
for weeds will be there.
And then hopefully, we've got $12,500 budgeted from
other grant sources, the Circle Lake
Association being one of them.
Up to the next slide, estimated expenses.
That top group of numbers just kind of keeps the lights on.
This is the budget for the lake restoration project
and weeds management project.
Both of those projects are over $5,000, so our membership
has to vote on those.
They've approved those as well.
So if we do, in fact, spend all this money,
that'll pretty much tap us out for 2026.
I think we'll carry in a little bit more than
the $70,000 but it gives you a rough
idea of what we're looking at.
And this is what the membership approved.
So we'll go to the next slide.
For questions on the budget?
MALE SPEAKER: Go ahead.
DEAN: Well then, I thank you very much for your time.
I hope that when it comes time for you
to vote on our budget and our items, that you approve it.
And certainly, if you have any questions,
you know how to get a hold of me and I appreciate your support.
MALE SPEAKER: Go ahead.
MALE SPEAKER: Just a thank you to you and everybody
on the board and the residents for stepping
up and doing what you're doing to make
improvements to the lake.
DEAN: You're welcome.
I'll let them know.
MALE SPEAKER: I also have a comment.
MALE SPEAKER: Go ahead.
MALE SPEAKER: The Circle Lake island,
you're all aware of the land trust,
purchasing it and going to hopefully
switch it over to the DNR, so that's going to be a good thing.
And then, I have had several comments.
I live real close to the lake, of course, of how good
it was this year, the weeds and stuff.
So you must be doing something right, so thank you.
DEAN: You're welcome.
MALE SPEAKER: Thank you, Dean.
Appreciate it.
DEAN: Thank you.
MALE SPEAKER: Next, we have our assessor's
office with Josh Schoen.
JOSH SCHOEN: Good morning, commissioners.
MALE SPEAKER: Good morning.
MALE SPEAKER: Morning.
JOSH SCHOEN: Thanks for letting me do an update this morning.
I'm going to start just by showing
the organization of my office.
So I have 13 full staff in my office, including myself.
Our most recent hire was in the end of May,
so we've been fully staffed since the end
of May, which is the longest stretch
we've had since before COVID.
So I'm thankful for that.
Hopefully, that continues.
But we have six appraisers, three, I guess, office staff,
and then two GIS people besides myself
and the assistant county assessor, Carolyn.
Next slide.
I showed this slide when I gave the presentation
at the County Board of Appeal and Equalization.
So you can kind of see where the market value has gone
over the more recent years.
Our sales ratio study analyzes sales,
so for the '26 assessed values, we
started with sales starting October 1 of '24
and will go through the end of September 30 of 2025.
So we're getting close to the end of that time study.
From what I'm seeing before the sales ratio season's over,
is that we'll see similar increases as a year ago,
that kind of all property types, our assessed value compared to
the sale prices have been low.
So I'm expecting to see increases
across all the property types.
MALE SPEAKER: I have a question about that.
JOSH SCHOEN: Go ahead.
MALE SPEAKER: At what point--
and I know this is not you-- but at what point are
the Department of Revenue-- because that's who
you answer to, right--
I mean, they make the rules.
At what point are they going to say, gosh,
we've made the assessors raise the value on everything
from commercial to residential, to apartments to farmland,
that it's not sustainable?
Because that's the point we're approaching.
You can deliver that message to whoever from the Department
of Revenue, but I will as well.
But it's becoming the point where people can't, because it's
part of the tax process of the value
and what they pay for taxes on their homes.
It's getting to the point where it's not sustainable for people
to be able to live in their homes anymore
because the values have been rising so dramatically
that we're going to have a mess on our hands
here coming up soon.
JOSH SCHOEN: Yeah, and one of the big things
to make sure understand too, is remember,
the values are just how the levies are distributed.
So I mean, if levies stayed the same and values doubled,
the taxes would stay the same in a more simple tax system.
So it is how it's distributed statutorily.
Assessors must value at market value.
I know other states have done a little bit different things.
In Minnesota, they use net tax capacity.
So not every classification pays the same amount of taxes
because there's a multiplier that changes,
that percentage that they pay.
That's how Minnesota's chosen to do that.
I know Iowa, like on their farmland,
they value it like a small percentage of the value.
So it's always just how do you shake that out, I guess.
But what we are seeing is, the good thing about when
we see all property types--
so residential and commercial apartments-- when they all go up
rather opposed to one goes up, one goes
down, that creates a tax shift.
So that's a good thing about when all of them go up together,
at least there's not this big tax shift
that you could see because then, there's
kind of unexpected tax bills.
So that's the positive of that, I guess.
Also, just having a healthy market
is usually a better economical sign too.
So hopefully, that exists as well.
I guess we can move on to the next slide.
This just shows the residential and seasonal rec sales.
I always kind of show this from year to year,
what the average county-wide and average
and Faribault, Northfield.
Last year's study for the 2025 assessment,
the average county-wide sale price was $350,000.
And preliminary, through the first week in September,
it was $370,000.
And then you can see in Northfield,
I think it went from 365 to 378, and then in Faribault, from
285 to just about $300,000.
So you can see those increases in the average sale price.
Last year, when I gave an update,
I had several slides on legislative changes,
and a lot of them really created some tax shifts.
We saw a really active bill a year ago with the tax bill
this year.
There was a lot discussed in the tax bill,
but nothing really made it through.
Some of the big changes a year ago
was that they redid the formula for the Homestead
market value exclusion.
That probably had the biggest impact on tax shifts.
Also, you can see in this chart, from '23 to '24,
the Ag Homestead tier went from just over $2.1 million
to $3.5 million.
That created some shift.
There was a low income rental classification
that really had a reduced rate from essentially 0.75% to 0.25%.
The legislature doesn't always pass bills
on the Homestead tier limit.
Usually, the Department of Revenue
just determines that based on the value increases
that are on the state.
There was that big change a year ago
because legislators didn't think the Department
of Revenue kept up with the changes of ag value.
But this year, there was a $300,000 increase in that limit,
which is percentage-wise, pretty similar
to the tillable increase that we saw a year ago with our ag land.
So that's probably the one big change
for this coming assessment.
MALE SPEAKER: So, Josh, can I ask just a question here?
JOSH SCHOEN: Yeah.
MALE SPEAKER: How do you determine
agricultural homestead?
I mean, what's the criteria for that?
JOSH SCHOEN: Yeah, so the most basic way is
if you own and occupy the farm.
So you live on the farm.
Once you establish ag homestead-- so that usually
means at least 10 contiguous productive acres in production--
then, once you establish that, you can link
farmland within four townships.
There's different ways.
That's one thing that's added to the complexity of ag homesteads
that we have--
a lot of our administration in our offices
just follow this stuff, but there's relative ag homesteads.
There's the special ag homesteads
because the farming community has changed where there's
more entity-owned properties.
Maybe they're moving off the farm,
but they still continue to farm but live in town.
There's some ways that they can qualify if they're the farmer
or a relative is a farmer.
They've really kind of expanded the ways
that that's changed as farming operations
have changed over the years.
So it is something we have, in general,
our homestead applications, once people file, they continue
to get that homestead credit.
But like the special egg, we require applications every year.
Any kind of relative homestead, we've been on every other year
cycle just to make sure they continue to live
there and meet that criteria.
So it is a little more complex than a simple answer
on that, but that's changed over the years.
And every year-- well, not every year, but it
seems like there's a little different rules
periodically within.
MALE SPEAKER: And then the valuation
limit would be that's the maximum
that they can be valued at?
Is that what you're getting at?
JOSH SCHOEN: Yeah.
Once all the farmland and outbuildings reach that--
let's say, it'll be 3.8 next year.
Once they hit that limit, then they're
taxed at the non-homestead rate, which is twice as much
as the homestead rate.
So your taxes double on that part.
So we've had over the years, like a truth and taxation time.
We'll have some farmers come in and say my taxes
doubled on this parcel.
This can't be right.
And what happens a lot of times is
that parcel was getting homestead
and then it doesn't get homestead.
Maybe it's at the end of that tier.
It is one thing, legislation addressed that homestead tier
a year ago because there wasn't a lot of change in there
and we were having some pretty big
value increases in especially the southern part of the state.
So we saw a lot of that.
And then it's such a big difference between homestead
and non-homestead with ag land and outbuildings,
that you notice that.
Because really, the biggest difference is the rate doubles.
And there's also an ag homestead credit
that farmers get that's up to $490
based on the value of the property.
MALE SPEAKER: Well, thank you for that clarification.
You guys deal with that more than I do.
But you understand that completely?
MALE SPEAKER: Yeah.
I've been to his office several times.
JOSH SCHOEN: Yeah, no, Minnesota has the most complex
property tax laws in the entire country,
and it's not even close.
I know the last time I heard, it was like Minnesota had something
like 67 property tax classifications,
and the next highest state was Iowa with 11.
It was that big a disparity.
And there are credits for different things.
One thing that's changed over the more recent years
is there's a school building bond credit that became
established as a lot of old state schools
failed to pass referendums because it
would impact the farmers so much and they'd vote against it.
Now when there's a school building bond, 70% of that
comes back as a credit to farmland.
So they're only paying on 30% of it, where historically,
they've paid 100%.
Next slide?
MALE SPEAKER: Thank you for that clarification.
I think it's important and you helped me
understand it a little better.
JOSH SCHOEN: Yeah.
Every year, the Department of Revenue
does a State Board of Equalization.
So whenever there's six or more sales within a property type
in a jurisdiction, our median value or median sale,
we have to be within 90% to 105%.
So if I don't get that value there,
the state steps in and issues state orders
that brings the whole jurisdiction kind
of up to that close to 100%.
And then anyone that appeals in that jurisdiction
would lose their appeal.
So it's something that we want to avoid.
And then also, they look at different measures too.
Like, there's certain jurisdictions,
like especially some of our smaller townships
that don't get six sales.
So they look at how those sales have occurred
over the five year period to see if we're
making the changes necessary.
So just because there's not sales
there doesn't mean we can't just let the values be flat,
and that's something we've been keeping up with the market.
We haven't had any issues with that.
And it's good too, just from a fairness, equity
with other taxpayers and to make sure we're addressing
those areas where we don't have sales as we can see what
the market indicates in other areas of the County
and other areas of the state.
And then, one of the big things we're working on right now--
we're kind of wrapping it up-- is our appraisers
do quintile inspections.
So we're required statutorily to visit each property at least
once every five year period.
So every year, I guess since last four or five years,
we send out postcards of the properties
that we're going to visit.
People have the opportunity to line up appointments
and we start going out and visiting properties.
And it's really, a lot of times, I
think people are a little worried that we're going out
there or we're going to value the property
and we're seeing this-- we value properties every year.
We're keeping up with the market.
It's really just to verify whether the information we have
is correct.
Sometimes, we'll be at properties
and maybe the conditions improved or there's something
there that we didn't realize.
But also, there's times that they're having issues that might
bring the value down or buildings that have been
raised that we didn't realize.
So there's both ways on that.
And we're really trying to be as efficient as we can.
We really utilize the air photos that we've been getting a lot
to make it more efficient, that historically, like the director
of the Department of Revenue, was to go out
and measure every single building at every property
that we're at.
And that's just not realistic with all the farms that we have.
And we do all that on air photos.
We usually only measure if we have some discrepancy
that we see on the air photos.
And then, you can see, through the end of August, we've visited
almost 5,800 properties.
About 6,000 would be 1/5 of our parcels,
so we're getting close to wrapping up our quintile
inspections, and then our appraisers
move to checking permits for new construction for the year.
On the next slide, we currently have 13 active tax
petitions in the County.
One in payable '24, which we have a motion hearing next week
to try to get dismissed, and then
12 for the payable '25 year.
I think we started with 17 and payable '25,
and we've either had five of them dismissed or settled.
Next slide.
So the Beacon website, so this is kind of a website that really
shows taxpayers a lot of the information
that we have on their properties,
shows property lines, maps.
Last year, we had over 390,000 visitors, over 1,000 a day.
With that, I think there was over 5 million views
of different sites on there.
This year, we're quite a bit ahead of that pace.
We're on pace for over 500,000 visits.
And it's been a really good tool as an assessor
that we have transparency with the taxpayers,
that we can talk with taxpayers.
And we hear when stuff's wrong, whether it's
their property lines or information
that we have on their property.
I think it's been a good tool.
We have tax statements out there.
People can see a copy of their subdivision or plat.
We have corner certificates out there.
Mike is working on linking our sales
to their LandShark TriMin sites so that they
can link to those documents.
So it's been a really good tool for us.
We get a lot of compliments from people
on how usable our website is.
MALE SPEAKER: So I have one question on that.
JOSH SCHOEN: Sure.
MALE SPEAKER: The accuracy of the Beacon sites, I mean,
how much or how accurate is it compared
to actual surveyed stakes?
And can people look at that with a confidence of this
is what it is?
JOSH SCHOEN: No.
I would say it's definitely not survey grade.
I think it'll be very difficult to get it there,
but it's the best information that we have.
We've gotten a lot better over the years
through efforts of our GIS, and of course,
Mike, the county surveyor.
We've really cleaned up a lot of information.
It's tough.
And even with the air photos, the way they line up
isn't always exactly perfect.
So there's always some error built in there.
But you'll see they're pretty good,
and I like that we have it out there.
We hear from taxpayers that we really
research some legal descriptions and we
make some improvements on those parcel lines based on that too.
But I would say it's gotten drastically
better the last 10 years.
And it continues to be a work in progress.
I don't think it'll ever be survey grade,
but it continues to get better.
And we hope to hear from people when there is something--
MALE SPEAKER: Discrepancy?
JOSH SCHOEN: --yeah, some discrepancy because that's
when we look into it.
It gives us an opportunity to relook at things.
MALE SPEAKER: Well, good.
I think it's good for everybody to know that because some people
make the presumption that what's shown on Beacons,
your fence is on my property or whatever.
JOSH SCHOEN: Yeah, I know we do get a lot of questions,
we're thinking about putting a fence up.
Get a survey or here's-- the nice thing is we can pull
the plat right up and say, these corners are located right here.
You need to find those to put up a fence, but it's not perfect,
but it's a good representation, I guess.
MALE SPEAKER: Thank you.
JOSH SCHOEN: The final slide that I
have is the air photo flight.
We were on the first of a three year contract over six years.
So this spring, we flew air photo flight by eagle view.
It was purchased with the compliance fund,
and it's been a really good tool.
We put the ortho image out on our Beacon website.
And there's actually a tool that you
can look at some oblique imagery,
but it's really a tool that we use internally a lot.
Our office, the assessor's office, dominates the use of it
but other departments around the County have it
and we provide it to the cities as well.
In 2024, we had over 55,000 image views.
And this year, we're on pace for more than that.
So we have over 43,000 image views.
It's really, really allowed us to do our job differently,
to be more efficient in the field.
It's really amazing how far this technology has come.
And we're not purchasing the best product that they have.
This year, we by default, got a better product.
We got three inch resolution, which
means each pixel in the photo is 3 inches by 3 inches, which I
say without human error, you can measure within three
inches on each side, so you can measure within 6 inches
before kind of human error, I guess.
They have a 1 inch product.
Traditionally, we've gotten some three and some six,
or it used to be a 12 inch product
that we got when they first kind of came out,
so it's gotten better.
And just having different angles of things has really helped
us do our job efficiently.
And I guess, with that, are there any other questions
that you have for me today?
MALE SPEAKER: I don't believe so.
JOSH SCHOEN: Well, thank you.
MALE SPEAKER: Thank you Josh, appreciate it.
Next, we have Adult Services with Megan Thomas.
MEGAN THOMAS: Good morning, commissioners.
MALE SPEAKER: Good morning.
MALE SPEAKER: Morning.
MEGAN THOMAS: I have quite a packed agenda here,
so I'm going to try to really just hit some highlights
and take any questions that you might have,
given today's agenda in general.
So I just started off with some acronyms.
We use them quite frequently downstairs.
So when I say some of these things, you might be like, well,
what does that mean?
I kind of just laid it out for you in the beginning.
So next slide, please.
Continued, you can go to the next one as well, Sarah.
Thank you.
So we're just going to start off with CADI, Community Alternative
for Disability Inclusion.
So right now in 2025, we currently have 8 case managers
and we're serving 423 cases with 25 in the hopper.
And what that just means is that we're
waiting for people's medical assistance to be approved
or their certification of disability, which
is one of the two eligibility requirements
to open to a CADI waiver.
So in combination of one or two, or both,
that's where the number 25 comes in.
Next slide.
In MnCHOICES, we added a new lead position in 2025.
The MnCHOICES team consists of four assessors at this time,
including a lead who also does assessments.
They complete all waiver PCA initials, annual MnCHOICES
for PCA, or what is now rolling out to be CFSS, So Community
First Services and Supports.
The second version, or MnCHOICES 2.0, launched in October 2024.
And I know that I've previously shared with you there
were a lot of reservations.
There's been a lot of bumps along the way.
There continues to be a lot of concerns and bumps
along the way using this new platform for us.
And with that, CFSS rolled out at the same time, which has
also been quite problematic.
There hasn't been enough providers in the state on board
to provide the CFSS portion.
And so how that differs from straight PCA
is the CFSS model allows a person
to have a monetary budget, and so it
allows a person and their family or caregivers
to determine how those needs are going
to be met with a budget model.
And providers haven't really gotten on board
with being able to be the fiscal supervisor of those things
as well as providing the service.
So we've had a long wait for families to open to CFSS.
However, their PCA does stay in place,
so they're not losing services.
There's no gap in services.
The state is just struggling with trying
to lift that and bring it to what I think
their fruition was meant to be.
MnCHOICE assessors are case managing all of their own CFSS
PCA individuals, which is nothing new,
but an average caseload for an assessor is 77 to 120.
And with the new MnCHOICES 2.0, it certainly
has increased our number of appeals
that we're facing downstairs.
So we've had 15 appeals so far, which
is actually quite high for us.
And what that means, or where that comes from,
really, is that the new platform is determining people's number
of hours of care per day to either be lower,
or the new budget model is less than what it used to be.
And so people are appealing that, which they certainly
have the right to do that.
So we've spent a lot of time in 15 cases determining appeals.
We have won a majority of those.
And when I say majority, some recommendations
from the appellate court or the DHS Human Services judge
will make recommendations for us to reconsider something.
So they haven't reversed our decisions or determinations,
they've upheld most of ours.
And then we have just a number--
I think we have one that's still floating
out there since February that we're
still waiting to hear back on.
So it's taking quite a lot longer
to get those determinations back as well.
Next slide.
Developmental disabilities.
We have seven case managers.
We're currently serving 400 individuals.
The average caseload size is 57, which is quite high for DD,
so it's definitely creeping up there.
We have two that are designated to children and families,
so that's that CDCS consumer directed support model.
And so it's mostly kids living with parents, guardians,
that sort of caseload.
So we have two case managers that are delegated to that.
And so their caseloads are actually a little bit higher.
But when you average the team out,
it looks to be that they're all sitting on an average of 57.
Next slide.
Adult protection mental health intake and nursing.
So in 2024, one of our nurses retired, Lisa Benson.
These positions are mostly grant funded,
so we made a choice looking at the caseload of two nurses.
We had two, one retired, and decided not to fill back
that position and use the grant dollars
to hire another adult mental health case manager.
And that's really where our need was.
So in a nursing perspective, our current nurse
is serving 17 individuals, which includes medication management,
monitoring of side effects, education, communicating
with doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists,
things of that nature.
And so far, it's been really good.
We feel that we really made the right decision
with that because our case management numbers were growing.
And we'll talk a little bit about the complexity of that.
Next slide, please.
MALE SPEAKER: Mr. Chair, if I could?
MEGAN THOMAS: Yes,
MALE SPEAKER: Yes.
Go ahead.
MALE SPEAKER: Why are we not using the Public
Health or the nursing department we
have without duplicating here?
MEGAN THOMAS: So it was determined a long time ago--
and Deb and I have spent some time talking about this,
and we just recently talked about
it when Lisa retired as well--
that before, long before my time,
it was determined through SCCBI and/or AMHI and CSP grant
dollars, that we could have specialized nursing funded
by those grant dollars embedded in our AMH AP units
that maybe would have more of, one could argue,
nursing expertise or mental health expertise,
meeting those people that were serving under AMH
or at Friendship House.
So that decision was made a long time ago.
I did reevaluate that.
And I think-- not I think.
I made the determination not to jump back to Public Health
just because we weren't going to fill back a second nurse.
So now we're down to one, and this nurse is working so closely
with AMH case managers, adult mental health case managers--
because it's their clients that they're serving--
that to be within the unit for those quick questions-- like,
hey, did we get a prescription for this?
Did their medication go up?
When's their next psych-- just that communication and being
embedded in the world that really that they're
living and serving.
So we do get support from Public Health with some
of our injectables when necessary,
and we're very thankful for that.
But really, from my understanding
of the whole picture, it just lies
back to this is how we could use those grant
dollars to fund this.
MALE SPEAKER: Thank you for the explanation.
MEGAN THOMAS: Might not be perfect, but it's working,
and I think someday, our current nurse isn't
going to be there forever.
And I presume if Deb is still here,
I would entertain more conversations
and continue to see how we can partner in that.
I don't know that we'll always stay funded.
We're the only county in the region that uses grant dollars
to fund nursing positions.
So we're the exception to the rule,
but right now it's working so don't rock the boat,
is kind of how I feel.
MALE SPEAKER: Thank you.
MEGAN THOMAS: Adult protection.
So in 2025, we added a new adult protection social worker.
So we went from 2 to 3 on a team.
We've opened 261 cases and we've received 371 adult protection
reports so far.
As far as civil commitments, we've
had 14 and 36 pre-petition screenings
that have been completed.
So really, what that just tells us is that the complexity
and acuity of people we're serving, which you all know
is a lot greater, we're serving more criminally
involved individuals as well.
So we anticipate to see those numbers
continue to increase over time.
Case management-wise, they're serving 150 people.
So we have six case managers.
So the average caseload size is sitting at about 25.
30 is the average norm per case manager when talking about AMH.
It's targeted case management, so these
aren't meant to be long term case managing, like DD and CADI.
So we really do look at our caseloads
and we look at when it's appropriate to close
when successes happen.
What does success look like for people.
We know that that's different.
And then, as far as intakes go in 2025,
again, up until completing this packet a couple weeks ago,
we've completed 44.
So our intake position works with people
to open to adult mental health case management.
It works with children's mental health
to open to case management there,
as well as our therapy providers and working to get
people connected to therapy.
MALE SPEAKER: Mr. Chair, if I could?
MALE SPEAKER: Yes, please.
I'm sorry.
MEGAN THOMAS: No, it's OK.
MALE SPEAKER: My question is, do we have any responsibility,
are we working up at the state prison?
MEGAN THOMAS: No.
MALE SPEAKER: We've nothing to do with--
MEGAN THOMAS: We do not have any input or anything in the state
prison system for that.
As far as MnCHOICES choices go, we MnCHOICE a lot
of people at the state prison.
We get a lot of referrals from there,
and so we'll go in and complete the assessment
before they're released.
And then our information then goes to the county in which
they're returning to after release so they
can connect them to services.
So it kind of starts there, but not from an intake
per se perspective.
Next slide.
Thank you, Rick.
Again, just a snippet of Friendship House.
We've had six new members join so far in 2025,
and then there's just a little picture
of how many participants--
I tried to blow this up, you guys.
I couldn't get it any bigger on the slide--
who participated in what.
And so what we've seen, not only with new members,
is majority of our members are actually
participating in most things.
And so our participation numbers have certainly increased.
And as you all know, Linda and Dana
do such an amazing job there, so we're really happy
and our members are happy.
So next slide is just a little picture
of our most recent additions.
So our lovely new garbage can that fits in there.
And in the back, I didn't have along pictures,
but in the background, you see two hydrangea
bushes and one in the middle.
Those are our most recent grant-funded additions
to our landscaping, so continues to grow.
Guardianship.
Key pieces here.
So we're currently serving 109 individuals.
Five of those are contracted with Scott County.
We have worked to assist six individuals successfully
restoring their rights or moving to a lesser
restrictive alternative, which is supported decision making.
If you remember from previous board discussions,
we launched supported decision making under a grant in 2024.
We've had some staff fluctuation with that,
but one staff has stayed consistent,
so we're currently serving 26 individuals.
We have four in a waiting list.
We've closed 31 cases so far, and we've
provided 30 trainings in our community of supported decision
making and how that is really a benefit to individuals,
and could be a lesser restrictive alternative as well.
What we've learned along the way is that it really
keeps the ability of people to experience autonomy
and independence, and it really has proven
to be cost effective for us in counties if they
were to decide to do this.
So of all the individuals referred to us,
we've either screened them for guardianship
and referred them to SDM because they
didn't meet that quite level of vulnerable adult
or incapacitated.
We also have a screening team with our courts
and our judicial system, which we review all cases filed
under in forma pauperis, which then, we bear
the financial burdens of that.
So we screen those cases that are filed with the courts,
and we've been able to recommend supported
decision making to the judges for those cases as well.
So next slide, Rick.
Oh, sorry, go back.
I thought there was another one.
So as far as that goes, we continue
to evaluate our current guardianship caseload
for restoring rights, supported decision making,
those step down processes as well.
And right now, our grant is still funded and in place
until June 30 of 2026.
And I know this legislative session, we're going to go back
and we're just going to keep lobbying for this.
We have a lot of support at the legislative platform
for this type of service, really looking at guardianship
and trying to keep it on civil commitment, like as needed.
I mean, you're really, truly are taking a person's rights away.
And we know that there's a place for it,
but we've seen a lot of petitions
where guardianship is just simply not necessary,
and so part of it's education as well.
So we meet with a lot of families
talking about that stuff too.
Now next slide.
Housing support.
So again, I think an email was shared with you.
And if it wasn't, I mean, we can.
But again, just reminding that housing support
is not the same as housing stabilization.
What we've seen all over the news with fraud,
that is not what we administer to downstairs.
We have 106 housing support providers
with five new providers that we've worked with
and approved in the last year.
Housing support does require a lot of time and dedication.
It's operated by a financial supervisor as well as our CADI
supervisor manages this role.
It really could be its own FTE.
We did apply for a grant this year to fund a position for this
because of the amount of work that it entails,
and unfortunately, we weren't picked.
In fact, DHS shared with us that there was $9 million
in requests above and beyond what the legislative
had approved for this.
So they obviously see that the need is out there as well.
Next slide.
Legislative updates.
So I'm just going to get into some legislative stuff that
really impacts my division, and this is where you may
or may not have more questions.
So from a MnCHOICES perspective, our timelines change.
So we went from 20 calendar days to 20 business days
from the time of a request.
So when somebody requests a MnCHOICES
and we complete an intake with them,
we have 20 business days to complete that MnCHOICES
assessment with them now.
Sometimes, it's phone tag and scheduling conflicts,
and you might get outside those 20 business days.
But I mean, that's kind of natural
when you're dealing with people and trying
to get things scheduled.
Assessors may provide up to four remote reassessments
consecutively, but the fifth one must be in person,
so that's something new.
We can now receive a verbal attestation
to replace assessment signatures,
but we make it our practice downstairs to always try and get
a physical signature for whether it's consent for services
or the consent for MnCHOICES release
of information, things like that.
But we now know that if we have it in email
or if we have a verbal attestation, we document that
and that can replace the physical signatures.
And then now, individuals can attest
to unchanged needs for two consecutive reassessments.
So what that just means is that if I have an assessment
this month and next year comes around,
and I say absolutely nothing's changed,
all the things are same, the assessor
can continue with the previous year's assessment
results and information.
You can do that twice until someone
technically has to really sit down and complete
an assessment with you.
So I would love to say that lightens the MnCHOICE assessor's
caseload and responsibilities, but it doesn't because CFSS
has actually quadrupled the work for them in that regard.
So, next slide.
DHS is working on a dashboard of agencies assessment data.
We're really looking forward to that.
MnCHOICES is never really, by platform,
been able to provide us concrete data or numbers.
We've had to collect that on our own.
They're now valid for 365 days, which is huge,
so we're not going out and having to redo assessments
while we're waiting.
If someone's MA took so long to approve,
or if their determination of certification of disability
has taken longer, we would have to go out and redo assessments
for those timelines.
Now they're good for 365.
This is probably the biggest impact.
So starting in January of 2027, MnCHOICES will no longer
be reimbursed by a time study.
It's going to have a flat rate reimbursement
for assessments completed.
And so they're going to be utilizing the later portion
of '25 here this fall and all of '26 to, I guess,
determine what that flat rate is going to look like for counties
for the reimbursement phase.
So it will be a lot less than what
we're getting through the time study, so stay tuned.
Next slide.
As most of you know-- and thank you so much for your advocation
and your platforms-- but the replacement
and modernization of SSIS was huge,
in the amount of $35 million.
Priority admissions, again, I'm sure you heard
many, many conversations-- not just for me, but from others--
about the 48 hour rule, the bed capacity shortage,
things of that nature.
So $34 million was directed to the Miller building
for bed expansion, with an additional $20 million
for future administrative work.
And then, last legislative session,
there was a reprieve to counties for mentally ill and dangerous
that were awaiting placement from one
state facility to another.
That has now sunsetted and counties don't get that.
We never had a scenario where we were able to reap
the benefits of that reprieve.
We didn't have anybody in that situation.
MALE SPEAKER: So, excuse me, Megan?
Could you just explain for all of us
the 48 hour rule, what exactly that is, so people understand
that a little better?
MEGAN THOMAS: Well, I encourage Brian to chime in.
But basically, in a nutshell, the 48 hour rule
was that if we had somebody that was brought into jail
who was mentally ill--
because that's not the place for them,
it's not appropriate that they should a new placement,
and they should be released to a more
appropriate placement treatment facility, whatever,
within 48 hours.
That's pretty much it in a nutshell.
Would you add anything?
MALE SPEAKER: No, that's what it is at its basic level.
MEGAN THOMAS: Yeah.
MALE SPEAKER: So you have 48 hours
to deal with this individual?
MEGAN THOMAS: That was the intent of the statute.
It has since then been paused and relooked at because there's
nowhere to put them.
I mean, bed capacity was, like, next to none.
So they languished in jails.
We did have an individual that unfortunately spent 92 days
in our jail before he was able to get into St. Peter
and be appropriately treated.
So we were all fighting the same fight.
We know that jail is not where people with mental health
needs and symptoms should be.
They should be treated as humans and seek the treatment
that they deserve.
MALE SPEAKER: So right now, in your opinion, is this working?
I mean, are we able to accomplish that in 48 hours?
MEGAN THOMAS: Oh, no.
No, we're far from it.
And I think until, like, this Miller building expansion
and until we start lifting places
in more capacity for people to go
to have the treatment that they need,
we'll never meet the 48 hour rule, no.
MALE SPEAKER: So we have a rule that we can't achieve,
basically?
MEGAN THOMAS: Yep, pretty much.
MALE SPEAKER: OK, thank you.
MEGAN THOMAS: Next slide.
Competency attainment.
So that was something that was lifted where counties are going
to have to contribute to the cost of examination or
competency attainment programs.
This really hasn't lifted-lifted per se,
so we don't know what this is going to look like.
As we get further into budget discussions and our 2026 budget,
we did put a line item in our budget for this
because we have to, and we're going to bear responsibility
for this at some point.
The state is just still working on getting this out there,
as a better word, maybe, to say.
Other legislative things, so there's
a task force that's been lifted in waiver, reimagine,
and long term services and supports,
just looking at how to reduce cost in long term services
and supports building greater efficiencies.
They limited rate exceptions.
So really, what this means is that providers could request
a rate exception for people that had needs above and beyond maybe
the norm, might be the best word to use,
and so they would make that request to the counties.
We would look at the assessment and all of the needs
that the person reflects that they have,
and then really pass it on to DHS.
So we're not approving or denying the rate exceptions
for these providers, DHS is.
So they really have reined that back in.
I don't think they knew when they lifted this what
a pandemonium it was going to be because really,
right now, as it stands, they very rarely get denied.
So we just have to make sure the request from the provider
is valid.
If it's not, we work with the provider
to revise the request so it's actually
accurate and appropriate.
We won't send it to DHS if it's not accurate.
So that's basically our role in it from a county standpoint.
Next slide.
This is huge.
There's been significant provider fees and licensing
requirements changes that are going
to come January 1 here in 2026.
So anyone who is adult foster care,
child foster care, a community residential setting--
so a group home--
or family adult day services, will
now be expected to pay an annual licensing fee of $2,100.
Previously, it was $500 upon licensing
and then every two years after that.
So it's not just the AFC annual licensing fee,
so a provider could have that.
And they could have a 245d license with Department of Human
Services, and they will also have
to pay $2,100 a year for that.
So they could take a $4,200 hit to maintain
both their licenses on an annual basis, and that's per site.
So when you have providers like LSS
Kennedy, which is now Harry Meyering Center,
that have multiple sites--
13, 14 group homes, nine--
that's per site, that's a huge hit
to our foster care providers.
That is going to be devastating.
We have one provider-- so let me rephrase.
We have 76 providers in Rice County that are licensed
in one capacity or another.
We're still getting information from DHS
on this whole payment thing.
But we out of the 76 providers that are going to take a hit
of $2,100 a year or $4,200 annually per site that they
have, we have one family adult foster care provider that
doesn't take any waiver funding for the two
individuals that she serves.
So she's funded through housing supports and some other means.
So for a provider like that, it's pretty gigantic.
I'm nervous.
I'm worried about-- we've lost providers and bed capacity
within our residential settings already
the last few years just due to staffing complications.
I'm afraid to see what these fees happen.
So as far as the fees go, DHS will be collecting all the fees
from the providers on an annual basis,
and then 50% of those fees are going to be
kicked back to the county.
So we could, in more detail, really look at our provider
lists and figure it out and really
grind the numbers out to see what that looks like for us.
But with so much information kind
of still coming out statutorily about these,
I haven't done that.
I haven't done that yet.
So I will soon when I feel comfortable that this
is set in stone.
Any questions on that?
MALE SPEAKER: So, Megan-- yeah, I do.
Megan, if you're going to hit these providers
with this big fee, this annual fee,
they're going to want to recap that money
somehow with their services that they're providing, right?
Or how is that--
MEGAN THOMAS: There's no way that we can offset that.
We've already looked at it.
It's impossible, and we can't--
there's some actually statutory language I just
looked at this morning that--
because I thought, OK.
Well, if we get 50%, can a portion of that
be offset back to the provider?
We can't even do that.
I mean, there's language in there that suggests
that can't even happen.
MALE SPEAKER: Well, it seems to me
it's going to be obvious that we're
going to lose some providers.
MEGAN THOMAS: I think we will.
I think it's very possible.
We have some really dedicated people in our community--
and I'm thankful for that-- that truly just
believe in caring for people.
But there are people that maybe just
can't financially sustain this and there's no way to fix it.
MALE SPEAKER: So if you're a provider, if you have one
resident, or if you have 10, you're
still considered a provider?
Is that how it works?
MEGAN THOMAS: Yeah, it's how many they're licensed for.
So this particular provider that doesn't take waiver funding,
she has two people living in her home, so she's licensed for two,
where most of our corporate sites are licensed for four.
It's not based on the number of people, it's based on the site.
So if you're a single family foster care provider,
that's your site.
That's your home.
You have one.
Like I said, some of these bigger agencies
that have multiple corporate sites throughout our community,
it's per site.
MALE SPEAKER: Well, it'd be interesting to see what happens.
MEGAN THOMAS: Yeah.
Anything else?
Nope?
So I've already shared that.
You can skip to the next slide.
It is?
Oh, see?
Great.
Perfect.
I tried really hard to just get through that.
I know it's a lot.
Any other questions, then?
No?
MALE SPEAKER: Well, Megan, thank you
for giving us a little insight into your world
and what you're doing, so appreciate your efforts.
MEGAN THOMAS: All right, thank you.
MALE SPEAKER: Commissioners, you all doing good?
Very good.
We have Public Health and nursing with Deb Purfeerst.
I don't see-- oh, there's Deb.
DEB PURFEERST: Good morning.
MALE SPEAKER: Good morning.
DEB PURFEERST: You guys need to stand up and stretch,
or you're all good?
MALE SPEAKER: I just asked these guys.
DEB PURFEERST: You're good.
There's going to be two updates today from Public Health.
The first is on our safe roads coalition and TCD work.
So the Minnesota Department of Public Safety
provides funding for traffic safety coalitions
to address and prevent traffic deaths and serious injuries.
Public Health serves as the fiscal host
and the grant manager for the Rice
County Safe Roads Coalition.
The coalition began in 2006 with Kathy Cooper
serving as the coordinator.
The mission of the coalition is to move Rice County towards zero
deaths and serious injury.
So with me today, I have Jessica Schleck.
Jessica is our regional safe roads coalition coordinator.
She'll start the presentation and talk about some
of the state and regional work being done.
And then we have Kathy Cooper here.
Kathy is our Rice County coordinator,
so she'll be sharing with you some of the data
and local work being done.
So I will turn it over to my partners.
JESSICA SCHLECK: Thank you.
I talk fast, so we should get you right back on track.
So as she said, my name is Jessica Schleck.
I am the Southeast TCD Regional Coordinator.
I have had the privilege of working with Kathy for 17 years,
I think, or something, so lucky.
But the statewide TCD program was launched in 2003
when we were seeing a big uptick in traffic-related fatalities.
So 655 people died on our roads that year.
So it was a program that was created by the Minnesota
Department of Public Safety, Transportation and Health
as a deliberate, interdisciplinary
approach to traffic safety.
Basically, they just realized we needed to not only work
with the state stuff, we needed to pull in local organizations
to help.
So the magic of this program is we are 20 plus years in
and we have so many partners across the state.
So TCD's vision.
Hopefully, you've heard this before,
but to reduce fatalities and serious injuries
on Minnesota roads to get to zero.
You can go to the next.
And the mission explains just how we do that.
You can go to the next one.
It's by collaborating.
So the TCD program focuses on those four strategic areas
to reduce crashes, enforcement, education, engineering, EMS,
and of course that fifth E, which
is everyone, because everyone shares our roads.
So, next one.
So over the years, TCD regional partnerships
have been established in eight geographical areas
throughout the state.
They're led by a regional TCD coordinators such as myself.
Each has a local steering committee
made up of traffic safety stakeholders from that region.
These are led by MnDOT district engineer
and a State Patrol captain.
Also included on the map are two state program TCD coordinators.
We just recently added a communications leader,
so hopefully, that will help us push out our messaging.
There's also four law enforcement liaisons
who work with all levels of law enforcement agencies
across the state, and three child passenger safety
liaisons who make sure our kiddos
are in those right car seats.
Let's go to the next one.
So right now, there are currently
six funded and one unfunded active
TCD safe roads coalitions in our region.
So our educational efforts only improve
as more of these coalitions are established.
But as Kathy may talk about, they have to apply for a grant.
And if they don't receive the grant,
they don't get to do the work or aren't able to do the work.
So, next slide.
So each of these coalitions bring together community members
from the five E's to address areas of concern
for their specific county or community.
So crash data is reviewed and counties develop a plan
for addressing these crashes.
They also implement activities and best practices
to make the greatest impact on reducing those serious and fatal
injury crashes.
So the coalitions also assist law
enforcement during the enforcement periods
with educational efforts.
So they really are boots on the ground doing all
the work, very important work.
Next slide.
So these are just a few of the focus areas that we work on.
Kathy will talk more about Rice County efforts
when she steps up.
But if you have any questions about those,
you can feel free to let me know.
So, next one.
So this is just a quick glance at some
of the regional successes over the past year.
I'm not going to read them to you,
don't worry, but you should have those on your own screen.
If you have any questions, let me know.
But I just want to point out there's
a bunch that really started in Rice County,
like Joyride, for instance.
Joyride Rice County was the first county
to implement Joyride.
They were the first County to work on the driver's
license for all programs.
You can add to this if you want, but there's so many things
that Rice County has really implemented and kicked
off for the whole state.
So, next one.
So since TCD started, together, we have saved more than 4,700
lives, which is 220 per year.
So that is a great work, but--
next slide-- but there's a lot of work to be done.
So as of September 12, last Friday, there
were 253 fatalities on Minnesota roads,
compared to 310 at this time last year.
Well, that number, I just got it right as I walked up,
and it is 261.
So that means that-- how many people is that died
from Friday until today?
So that's a big number for our weekend.
So there's a lot of work to be done to date in Rice County--
or, I'll just let you go.
KATHY COOPER: Thank you, Jessica.
I'm going to talk a little bit about our Rice
County crash facts.
One of the requirements of the grant,
the TCD grant that we receive, is
that we have a fatal and serious injury review committee,
and we are required to meet quarterly.
So we track crashes in Rice County with the help of our law
enforcement and other partners, and then we
meet quarterly to review them.
We're not reviewing them to assign blame or anything,
but what we're looking at is why did that crash happen.
What are the trends?
What can we do to prevent that crash, that type of crash
from happening again?
So the crash facts report that I have in this presentation
is incomplete.
We're still working on it, waiting for some data
to complete it, but it's a report from 2020 to 2024.
And you'll see that there was 120 total serious and fatal
injury crashes in Rice County.
We average about 750 crashes in Rice County every year, so two
a day--
two a day.
And that's been pretty consistent throughout the years.
In 2025, we know that we have already had--
question?
MALE SPEAKER: Yeah, go ahead.
MALE SPEAKER: Are you including--
is this outside the cities, county-based?
Or is this including some of the city?
KATHY COOPER: It includes the cities, the counties.
So Northfield, Faribault, Lonsdale, and then countywide.
MALE SPEAKER: So the cities are included?
KATHY COOPER: Yes, the cities are included, yes.
But it's all broken out, so the reports that we do
are by city and then by the county, and then a total.
MALE SPEAKER: My other question is,
do you guys track the location of these accidents
for interception?
KATHY COOPER: Yep, yep.
Dennis Luebbe with Rice County Highway Department,
he's one of the members on the fatal review committee.
And he'll look at those trends and the locations.
And a lot of times, he goes right out to the site
and to see, do we have proper signage there?
What's going on here?
He's a very important part of our fatal review committee
because he can provide that perspective
and he can get things done.
If a motorcycle is going off of a curve on a certain road,
he'll go out and check that curve.
And do we have signage to alert the motorcycle rider
that there's a curve coming up?
And curves are hard for motorcycles.
We've got data that shows that as well.
So any more questions on the '20 to '24
or the fatal review committee?
In 2025, already to date, we've had four
fatal crashes in Rice County.
And the one thing that we have noticed already
and have recorded is that all four of the fatalities
were over 65.
So that's telling us right there,
we need to focus on our older drivers.
And so we wrote some things into our 2026 grant application
with that in mind.
One of the things that we did this past year
is called Car Fit.
And we had a Car Fit clinic in Northfield in May.
We're trying to bring it to Faribault. We're hoping
that the senior centers will take it up and do it
as a regular clinic, but that's to help older people fit
in their cars so that they're driving more safely, that they
can see out of their mirrors on the side, their rear view,
that they're at the right height and the right distance
from the steering wheel.
So lots of work to do there.
And then there's been 15 serious injury crashes already in 2025.
And four of those were with older drivers.
So we'll be meeting for our fourth quarter
fatal review committee at the end of the month, September 29.
And we'll finish up this crash facts report,
and then we'll get it out to you so that you have the data.
What else, here?
Oh, TCD work in Rice County.
So every year, we have to apply for the grant around again,
and we do that with Public Health.
Deb helps write that grant, and there's
two grants that are awarded.
One is the education grant through Public Health,
and then local law enforcement also writes a grant
for extra enforcement help.
And that kind of rotates through the law
enforcement and Rice County.
So in this year, 2025, Northfield
has been the coordinator for the enforcement grant.
Lonsdale wrote it for 2026.
We're still waiting to hear about that
and hoping that we get that grant.
The next slide, please.
Our Safe Roads Coalition members has been pretty
steady over the past years.
They are wonderful members.
I can't tell you how much support that they
provide to the coalition.
Anything I ask of them, they step right up.
They may not always be at our meetings, but I can call on them
and they provide for traffic safety
activities in Rice County.
Next slide, please.
Some of the local efforts this grant period,
we sponsor or provide a Thanksgiving Eve DWI kickoff
this past fall Thanksgiving.
It was held at the Northfield police
department on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.
All law enforcement are invited.
The county attorney comes.
Media is there.
Minnesotans For Safe Driving and myself are there.
We also recognize the law enforcement
officer in the county that has the most DWI citations.
So last year, there were two officers that tied
and they're given a certificate of appreciation.
Nancy Johnson with Minnesotans For Safe Driving and I
provide pizza for the officers.
And sometimes, there's an impact speaker.
The County attorney will speak.
It's a great time to get together
and thank them for their work.
They're going out on Thanksgiving Eve,
when they would probably rather be home with their families,
helping to stuff that turkey and make pies for the next day,
but they're out on the road to help ensure our safety.
So that's a huge event for us.
This last year in Northfield too,
we always try and do a poster and some media coverage, a PSA.
And Kevin Tussing was able to bring in the Jesse James Gang
to help us do that.
And we had Sam Temple from the City of Northfield
communications department, and Susie Rook.
They were both there taking photos of the James gang.
All our law enforcement were in red cowboy hats,
Santa hats, cowboy Santa hats.
And Susie did a fabulous poster, and then Sam Temple
did a PSA that we were able to put on the city
web pages and Facebook.
So we really try and get it out there.
We try not to be all doom and gloom about it,
but raise awareness.
This is important.
This is serious.
This is life and death matters, so huge event.
And then the Car Fit safety clinic, I spoke about.
We partnered with Faribault's Double
Impact for a traffic safety week at Bethlehem Academy.
Double Impact led the charge and it was a great event
at Bethlehem Academy.
It was for the sophomore and senior students.
They brought in the drunk carts with the fatal vision goggles,
and we've actually had those for the county board in the past,
and a little course out in the parking lot
where you've had to put the goggles on and drive through it.
So they brought that into the high school.
It was very successful.
And then on Wednesday, there was a mini mock crash there.
Again, law enforcement and Double Impact, fire department,
they handled that.
They brought in a helicopter, landed.
So that was another huge event.
They had an assembly at the high school,
and we brought in a crash car that was
posted on campus before prom.
We also partnered or participated,
I guess, at the Safe Summer Kickoff in Faribault
on the last day of school.
We brought in the seat belt convincer
and we also had a crash car there as well.
The belt convincer was a lot of fun.
We get a lot of teens that take a ride on the seat belt
convincer, and then they can put their name in a drawing
for a Kwik Trip card.
A lot of little kids want to ride it,
but we set an age limit.
You have to be 14, but the little kids watch and we always
ask their parents to take a ride since their child can't
show them what it's all about, so
another great education piece.
And then, Joyride was provided at the Defeat
of Jesse James Days.
Again, many, many, many, many thanks
to the committee and the Northfield police department who
provided the funding for the epic shuttle and driver.
It ran all three nights.
She was extremely busy on Saturday night, which is usual.
But the thing that struck me this year was the riders
were so appreciative.
On and on, and on, thank you so much.
Northfield is wonderful to provide this kind of service.
I wasn't going to comment until I saw this.
So that was really, really exciting to hear that.
And I didn't see any public intoxication,
and that was really good too.
People were having fun and being responsible.
So I think Joyride, even though the rider numbers aren't huge,
it provides a lot of education and awareness
on don't drink and drive in our community during this event.
There still was a few DWIs, but there were
no crashes, so that was good.
And then, I mentioned the quarterly fatal and serious
injury committee reviews that we do.
We also have presentations at driver's ed classes
related to alcohol and drugs.
I'm a speaker.
Public Health also has a speaker that does cannabis education
at driver's ed and in the health classes
at the public high school, so that's really good.
And then we always support the enforcement calendar with media
releases and Facebook posts.
And that's thanks to Susie Rook here
at Rice County Communications.
She's a great partner and she does a lot of work for us
on that, so we appreciate it.
And then, next slide, please.
You'll see just some photos.
The Car Fit clinic.
There's the Jesse James Gang poster that we put out.
The PSA can be found on the City of Northfield website.
I think it's also posted with Rice County.
There's the crash car that we had at Bethlehem Academy
and at Safe Summer Kickoff.
And then, I forgot to thank College
City Beverage for the banners.
They print all the banners and posters for the Joyride event,
and they really did a fabulous job this year too.
I went in the entertainment tent and they
had banners on the outside.
They had banners on the inside.
They had posters all over.
For the first time, I had riders coming to the pick
up location with tickets filled out.
Every year, I print 500 tickets and
distribute them to the local bars
and in the entertainment tent.
And I've never had anybody come to the pick
up location with their ticket, so I always have a handful.
They have to put their address on the ticket.
That's the only reason that they need a ticket, is so that we can
have their address for the driver,
so the driver knows where to take them.
So anyhow, that was an improvement.
So there, again, you'll see our Rice County Safe
Roads Coalition mission, to move Rice County toward zero deaths.
We've been close.
We've had some years with only two fatalities,
and that's encouraging.
And we're going to get there, I know it.
And then, if you want to get involved,
come to the Safe Roads Coalition meetings or support us.
We also attend the Southeast TCD Steering Committee.
And then, attend the state conference this year.
It's in Prior Lake, October 21 to 22,
and we have had county board commissioners
attend in the past.
We've had the county attorney and law enforcement,
lots of good folks.
And it's a great event, a lot of workshops to choose from.
And then, you'll see on the last page, our regional posters.
So every year, the region, Jessica,
will organize a photo shoot of all law enforcement
and first responders for a photo shoot
that we can distribute for seat belt awareness
prior to seat belt campaign.
And so it moves throughout the county, the 11 counties.
We did it in 2012 at Northfield Hospital.
And this year, we did it at the new Public Safety Center
in Faribault. So there's the poster.
The poster was printed by Neuger Communications.
They did 500 large posters for $40.
So they were a great partner too, and we thank them for that.
So thank you very much.
Any questions, anybody?
Thank you.
MALE SPEAKER: Not necessarily--
KATHY COOPER: Oh, I'm sorry.
MALE SPEAKER: No, it's OK.
Not necessarily a question, but a statement.
Thank you for what you do.
You've been doing this for how many years now?
KATHY COOPER: 18.
MALE SPEAKER: 18.
And we appreciate it.
MALE SPEAKER: Well, thank you.
KATHY COOPER: There's so many different factors,
from seat belts, to drinking, to inattentive
driving, to these things.
And we have an aging society, so when you have training for 65
plus, it's a lot of factors that come
into just driving a vehicle.
KATHY COOPER: Right.
And now, thanks to our legislature passing
legalized recreational marijuana, that's
going to be another issue.
I mean, it's already an issue, but it's probably
going to be a greater issue.
So, thank you.
DEB PURFEERST: And I just want to keep Kathy up here a second
and point out that Kathy has served
in a very long time in Rice County
to promote traffic safety.
So we're really grateful for her work and her dedication.
In 2024, Kathy was the recipient of the Kathy Swanson Outstanding
Service Award for Exceptional Leadership in her efforts
to improve traffic safety in Minnesota,
and it was because of Kathy's work.
Unfortunately, her daughter was killed in a traffic crash
a number of years ago, but she led the efforts
to improve the laws for the primary seat belt law,
and it was because of Kathy's dedicated work
that that happened.
So we really appreciate all the work that she
has done in Rice County.
I would also like to shout out to some of the Rice County staff
who are very helpful with our coalition.
We have the county attorney's office, law enforcement, highway
department and communications, and they are all very active
partners on our coalition, so we couldn't
get the work done without them.
So, thank you.
Again, thank you.
Any other questions about Safe Roads Coalition?
MALE SPEAKER: Well, I'd like to give it up
for Kathy and your whole staff.
So let's--
DEB PURFEERST: Yeah, thank you Kathy.
[APPLAUSE]
KATHY COOPER: So we have a We Care card because we do care.
Law enforcement is not out there just giving citations.
They're trying to educate the driving public.
We care.
DEB PURFEERST: Kathy did bring the fatal vision goggles,
but I don't think we're going to take time to do that.
But later, if any of you want to put them on and see what it
would be like if you are using cannabis products,
it gives you a good indication of what that is
and how that might affect your driving.
So that concludes includes our safe roads presentation.
I'm going to move over to the second thing
that Public Health is going to present about.
So we're going to give you an update on our community
health assessment process.
So as a reminder, all Minnesota Community Health boards
are mandated to participate in assessment and planning
and to determine local public health priorities
and focus local resources on the greatest community
and organizational needs.
So we did have a community health assessment and planning
meeting in March of this year to prioritize some of the issues.
I have Sarah Coulter here.
She is our clinic and community supervisor,
and she's going to give a brief update about some
of the work that was done in March,
as well as some of the next steps moving forward.
So, thank you, Sarah.
SARAH COULTER: Thank you.
So good morning, everyone.
I'm Sarah Coulter.
I am the clinic and community supervisor, as Deb indicated,
and I have been in this role since 2013.
So that actually means this is my fourth go
around with this process.
So we keep doing things a little bit
differently, improving, learning some new skills.
And I want to acknowledge that the things that have been talked
about today, I've heard at least 15 different points that you're
going to hear a little bit about in this presentation as well.
Health is in all policies.
So just hearing some of these things,
I'm going to try and point out where they connect to our work
as well.
So in the world of public health, this process,
this community health assessment and improvement planning--
you can go to the next slide--
is required by the Local Public Health Act of 1976.
So I'm going to take you a little bit through this wheel
here.
Our goals are to increase your understanding of the health
of the people of Rice County, to walk through this process of how
we identified our top three health-related needs
in the county, and then to lay out our next steps, which
get to the heart of strategizing with the community
and our partners to address those needs.
So, go ahead.
We do this process through a variety of methods.
This assessment piece, that first part of our wheel.
The first part is really data that we
gather from national, local and state sources.
It's me going clickety-click, click, click in my office
pulling data from the census, from the Minnesota student
survey, et cetera, putting it into tables, charts, and graphs,
and trying to understand that data.
We also do a mailed survey.
So if you go to the next slide, you'll
see that we do hire a survey company to format the survey
and to handle the distribution of that survey.
In this last round of surveying, it was 57 questions long.
We're working to shorten that.
That's a lot of questions for the public.
We did have a 27% response rate, which is still pretty good.
But in 2021, we had a 38% response rate.
So we are making efforts to shorten that survey, for sure.
The survey results are actually weighted
to ensure that the results more accurately reflect
our population.
For example, we don't survey students,
so this is not representative of college students at all.
And the number of respondents who participate in a written
survey like that, they're typically older
and they're typically white women.
So the results are weighted to be more
reflective of our population and we
can't use this data at all to represent our people of color
in Rice County.
So all of these results were compiled into a report, which
is available on our website.
And I am going to go through the results of that survey
and the data gathering in a little bit,
but I did want to show you the next part of the wheel.
So the report and the survey are building our assessment,
and then we have to do this prioritization piece.
So to move into that, we actually asked for help.
We don't do that easily downstairs,
but we did ask for help from the Minnesota
Department of Health, their data and technical assistance team.
I'm really grateful that we did do
that because they-- go ahead--
they helped us prepare for this meeting
that we hosted with the community.
We did gain some new skills and it did push
us to try different new things.
So that meeting was held on March 18.
And if you would please raise your hand
if you were able to attend that meeting,
or you can just raise your hand if you wish
you had attended that meeting.
And I really hope everyone's hand goes up because I'm
going to give you this.
Oh, sorry.
I can't reach that.
That's all right.
MALE SPEAKER: I think we all did.
SARAH COULTER: Just hold on to this.
Don't do anything with it right now, just hold on to it.
All right, so there you go.
So since everyone did raise their hand
and was hoping that they could either have been there
or that they were there, at this meeting,
45 people from the community were in attendance.
And we did try some new tools.
If anybody's ever worked with Padlet,
you'll see it in a little bit.
And we use these data sheets that the data
and technical assistance team helped us develop.
So before we get into the-- go ahead.
Before we get into the results of this data
and what the health of the people of Rice County
looks like, I want to just give you a quick overview.
We've got about 68,000 people in Rice County.
We are increasingly diverse, and about 11% of our population
lives in poverty.
So as we do this, do you guys have your cell phones with you?
MALE SPEAKER: Yes.
SARAH COULTER: If you would please play along with me,
I'd like to try something new with you guys,
because we're constantly trying to innovate and keep people's
attention and try new things.
So if you would please go to menti.com on your cell phone.
And then at the top, you're going to see
a spot to plug in a code.
And that code is there.
It's going to stay on the next few slides.
So if it takes you a bit to get there,
your connectivity is slow, you will get there.
We're going to go on to the next slide.
But all you're going to do at this point is go to the website
and plug in the access code, and then you can
put your phone down for a bit.
So once I am done reviewing the health topics,
I do want you to vote.
So Menti is a voting tool that I want
you to try out with me today.
Anyone is welcome to vote.
So if members of the public at home, they want to try voting,
again, the information is on the slides.
People in the room, you're welcome to vote.
This is just to help us understand
and stay tuned into the data.
We will be looking at the results at the end of this.
So again, on this slide and the next several,
that Menti information is on there.
All right, let's go on.
So the first data slide that we're going to look at
is around health care access.
And you can see, this is how we oriented the public.
So the exclamation points are where we emphasized items that
were particularly noteworthy.
I am limiting myself to one data point on each of these slides
and I'm sheepish to tell you that I did miss one slide,
so I'll just verbally talk through that one.
So in no particular order, we're starting
off with health care access.
Rice County has more people per provider
than the state average for dental, mental health,
and physical primary care.
So more patients per provider than the state average.
I just want you to think about how that impacts a person's
ability to manage their chronic disease,
or to get in for an appointment.
Next slide, we've got on the bottom right, only 45%
of our children and teens who are enrolled
in medical assistance-- so our low income
families-- have completed their well-child exam.
But parents know that these exams are an important part
of catching their child's development
or physical care needs early on so that they can be addressed.
The sooner that we detect something, the more likely
we are to have a successful health outcome of whatever
is identified.
So that's preventative screenings.
Physical health.
So this sheet really captures our leading causes of death.
And those are labeled in Rice County by one, two, skip a few,
and then 4, 5, 6.
The one I want to point about out here
is in your top right quadrant.
We've got 38% of our population has high blood pressure.
High blood pressure is a modifiable health risk.
So that is something you can actually do something about.
That number has also been increasing.
All right.
Next slide, we've got our childhood immunizations.
And I'd like to point out that we have decreasing vaccination
uptake here in Rice County.
So there's four data points on here and all four of them
are asterisked, so I'm just going
to summarize it by saying we have decreasing
vaccinations in Rice County.
And there was a pertussis outbreak in Minnesota in 2024.
Next slide.
I lumped the youth and the adults
together when it comes to weight status.
Our adults are actually-- if we look at overweight and obese
together, 75% of our Rice County residents
are overweight or obese.
And being in those weight categories
has an impact on our chronic disease, which
just two slides ago, I told you was one
of our leading causes of death.
So I also wanted to point out-- so I'm cheating
and I'm doing two on this one-- that as our screen
time increases, oh, it's actually-- no, it's right here.
So as our screen time increases, so sedentary time,
so does our experience with anxiety and depression.
You're going to see that here coming up soon too.
So on this slide, we've got our youth
and our adult substance abuse.
And I just want to say that our children reflect
the behaviors of the adults.
So we've got increasing amounts of cannabis.
Tobacco is actually going down a little bit.
And tobacco is actually higher in southern Rice County.
So if you're a commissioner in southern Rice County,
take a look at that top right area,
looking at Southern Rice County split by northern Rice County.
Pause here, Sarah, because this is where I forgot
the slide on mental health.
Sorry about that, it's actually a really important one.
And one in three adults have either anxiety
or depression in Rice County.
It's the same for our children.
It's also interesting that when you look at loneliness,
one in three of our adults experience loneliness.
So that number has increased very significantly since 2016.
We're going to go on.
The next slide is around maternal health.
As you know, I do work with our WIC services as well.
And I want to point out that this
is an area WIC is going to be focusing
on in the next two years.
37% of our WIC moms have a low hemoglobin.
Hemoglobin is like the iron in your blood,
and it's what carries oxygen. A woman is building another human
at this time, and that human needs blood volume,
and so does mom.
So in their third trimester, we have 37% of our WIC moms
with low hemoglobin.
That is actually higher when you look at it by race.
So our white moms experience lower levels of low hemoglobin,
and our Black and our Hispanic moms
experience greater levels of low hemoglobin.
So low hemoglobin in pregnancy increases
risk of premature babies, so babies born before 37 weeks.
I'm guessing some of you guys have
had experiences with premature babies in your lives.
Those babies are also at risk of low birth weight
and at risk of infection or the mother
bleeding out during birth.
So 37% of our moms are experiencing this.
All right, our housing slide.
We've got nearly half of our renters
in Rice County are paying 30% or more of their income on rent.
You already knew that, I'm thinking,
but that is really, really significant.
Motor vehicle safety.
Shout out to Kathy who, I don't know if she's still in the room,
but two in five of our students report distracted driving.
Commissioner Mallika pointed out all the distractions
that are available to us when we're driving,
and so just a nod to Kathy on that part of her work.
Violence, abuse, and neglect.
One in 10 of our students report emotional or physical abuse.
There's also some information from Megan Thomas's unit
or department on this slide as well,
regarding the number of children in out-of-home foster care.
All right, that is what I would like to call a turn
and burn on the data related to Rice County.
And this is where we're going to pause so that you guys can vote.
So if you would again pull up your Menti, what I want you
to do is choose three categories where
you think it's the outstanding or one of the top three
of those categories.
Just select them, and then Sarah,
if you would go to our website so we can start
seeing how you guys voted.
MALE SPEAKER: So you just told us we're going to get depressed
if we're on the screen time and now you
got us playing on our phones.
SARAH COULTER: Yeah, yep.
You're absolutely right, I do.
But after this, please feel free to turn it off.
All right, so what you can see, we've got--
oh, good.
You're still voting.
I'm going to let it settle for a bit.
MALE SPEAKER: I was paying attention.
SARAH COULTER: And dang, we're going
to need some tiebreakers here.
So if somebody else wants to vote,
you can see that the number one issue here is housing,
and then we've got a whole lot.
And I'm not too surprised.
All of these things is a pressing health need.
We're only able to focus on the top three,
and now we've got three.
So let's just go with this.
We've got physical health, substance use, and housing.
So just in this kind of--
I'm sorry, I'm pretty informal about some of this
and this spitball method.
This is what we came up with, those
being the top three-- housing, physical health,
and substance use.
Let's take a look, Sarah, if you would go back to the top three
that the community identified.
When the community went through this process which, granted,
they got a whole lot more meat on the bones
in this presentation.
We really took some time to digest it with our partners.
And these are the top three that they came up with.
Housing, mental health, and health care access.
So we can go to the next slide because this is the tool Padlet.
Super, super messy, but it worked brilliantly.
You're getting the summary, but we spent the rest of our meeting
after we identified the top three, really diving
deep on those three topics of housing,
mental health, and health care.
And we talked about what is helping
on this issue of mental health, housing, and health care,
and what is contributing, what's making it worse.
And everybody just kept dumping their ideas and information
into this tool, Padlet.
And now what we've done--
well, then, we stopped the meeting.
Well, no, I guess not.
We closed the meeting by asking who
wants to be involved in the next steps of this process.
So we can go to the next slide, because I've
taken you all the way around to number three here.
We are currently strategizing.
So we're taking these top three health issues
and we're meeting with work groups, which are going to begin
meeting later on this month.
And then we're going to be setting
some goals, some strategies, and objectives.
And we're going to develop measurement
in order to be able to see whether or not
we're having an impact.
So the population measure is something we just measure
periodically, not regularly.
So when we look at the fact that one in three of our adults
is experiencing anxiety or depression,
if I measure that every week, I'm
not going to see much change.
But if I measure the efforts that the community is having
around, like, raising awareness about mental health needs,
increasing the number of providers,
those things change more regularly.
And then we pull our population measure again
in about three years and see if we've had a positive impact
on that outcome.
So since our technology worked, I don't actually
need you to use your red packets in the way
that I thought I might need you to use them
if our technology didn't work.
But in recognition that one of our top health needs
is mental health, when you open up
your packet, what you're going to find in
there is three wooden hearts.
And again, since our technology worked and mental health
is a top health need in Rice County,
you can feel free to take those three wooden hearts
and distribute them to three people.
I'm going to ask you to find three people that you want
to appreciate, or just send a message of kindness
to, and give those little hearts of kindness away.
So thank you for your time today.
What questions may I help with?
MALE SPEAKER: Well, Sarah, I enjoy your energy
and your presentations.
SARAH COULTER: Love working here.
We've got some good stuff going on.
MALE SPEAKER: Yes.
Any other comments?
Thank you, Sarah.
That was very good.
SARAH COULTER: Thank you.
MALE SPEAKER: Commissioners, are you doing good?
Stay with it?
We got the honorable Dennis Luebbe coming up.
DENNIS LUEBBE: Good morning.
MALE SPEAKER: Good morning.
DENNIS LUEBBE: So I'll keep some updates brief.
It's been a long morning.
I know Paula wanted to know how long I was going to talk
because she's ready to go.
Just some updates from highways.
I'll focus on construction, mostly.
A couple projects, well, all projects are moving along fine.
I think in the next couple of weeks,
we'll be really close to wrapping up several of them.
I do want to point out that on our County Road 50, that's
that reconstruction project, we ran
into two pockets of silty material
that required us to put in a little extra cement
stabilization.
So we'll probably have a little cost
overrun in at least that line item on that contract.
But at this point, I don't think it's anything excessive.
Let's see, on our County Road 78 culvert up by Sechler Park
in Northfield, we ran into bedrock,
and that will cost a few extra dollars again
to have that excavated out, especially
for the knee walls or the toe walls of that culvert.
Again, I don't think it's excessive,
but probably some unplanned cost on that job.
Let's see, we did receive some additional funding
so we can advance the Richland Township Bridge
Hall Avenue Commissioner.
I'll be talking to them in November on that,
get that squared away for next year.
I will have next week, for your action or consideration,
a proposal to start a design for another Northfield Township
Bridge on Carroll Trail.
I got a proposal from a consultant,
so that'll be on the agenda for next week's action item,
as well as an update on County Road 11, our slope failure
due to the flooding last year.
We did open some bids.
The bids came in extremely high.
And we will be reassessing our options,
and I'll share more details with you next week on that.
It doesn't look like we'll get that project
done this year due to the costs we saw on that bid opening.
And then the other County Road 20 project
we're designing for 2027 from Trunk Highway 3 by Menard's
and Dundas to back up towards Faribault about three
miles, that project, in the design phase right now,
we're probably looking at a few challenges there.
We've talked to Great River Energy, which
is the transmission line through Rice County, or at least one
of them.
We're going to have to move one of their poles
so our alignment can best fit the contours and the other needs
of the project.
That may not be cheap.
We've just started the process with them to investigate
the cost to do that.
And then, in that same area, to make the road improvements
and design a safe road to serve the public
for the next 50 years, we're going to move the alignment.
Moving that alignment pushes us into some wetland
and some poor soils.
So we're just beginning to learn how much over-excavation.
We're going to get into that.
So when we talk about the cost of that project,
I think it's creeping upwards, but we'll know more
as we get further into design.
We do hope to have maybe some exhibits in a public open house
on that part of County Road 20, I think in October
now, maybe later in October.
And let's see, well, I think I'll stop there.
I could talk a little bit about parks
if you're interested in what we've been able to do in parks.
We've got a project going on at Shaker Park,
right west of town off of Trunk Highway 60
for some ADA improvements through Deb and Public Health
funding some of that, and then the action
you took last week to free up some of those dollars
in our park dedication fee.
Randy Tim's crew is going to get in there, I think, next week
and start making those improvements.
We have some trailhead signs that were also funded
through Public Health and SHIP.
Those should be going up next week at three different parks
to give folks a better sense of the park amenities
and some of the history of the parks.
And Susie's been very helpful to help that,
along with other staff in Public Health
and in the assessor's office--
good teamwork on that.
Our MnDOT crew, I think, should be placing signs along our Trunk
Highway system in Rice County that
identify those parks as well.
I need to follow up and see where they're at with that.
That was also funded through Public Health.
And then our regional park application,
we were able to go to the Defeat of Jesse James
Day on a Saturday morning.
We had an opportunity for a survey,
try to capture some folks' interest and knowledge
of Cannon River Wilderness Park, what amenities
they would like to see.
And some folks didn't even know where it was, but that's fine.
So we're building awareness for that.
That was a pretty good turnout on that day
until we got rained out, I think, about 2 o'clock.
Nice event up there.
With the attorney's office, we're working on the park rules.
So as part of our signage, we're going to display--
the board will be acting on that in the future
here to develop some updated park rules, so that's underway.
And I think we're going to hopefully wrap that
up by the end of this year.
And then it's funding time, so I'll
be working with Sandy on a couple of different initiatives.
And then also, our routine highway funding opportunities
are starting to come to us, and there'll
be some discussion possibly on what projects
we would pursue funding on.
And we're talking about projects that are probably in years
3, 4, and 5 in our program.
So I'll keep it short.
Any questions on that update?
MALE SPEAKER: Go ahead, Galen.
MALE SPEAKER: I don't think you mentioned County Road
46, Hazelwood Avenue.
DENNIS LUEBBE: That project, I think,
has one lift of asphalt to go.
They finished that this week with the paving,
and then of course, pavement markings, signage, shouldering,
and I think some very minor ditch
grading has to be done yet.
Probably, I would say, middle of October,
maybe a week earlier than that.
County Road 48 right here in Faribault, it's
an interesting paving approach there
to deal with all of the different traffic lanes
and the different depths of paving.
That's moved along nicely, and the traffic
signal work was done.
And I think final paving is, again,
probably five to 10 days out.
That could wrap up.
Our County Road 27 project, I think all the construction
signs have been removed and so I think we're essentially done.
Did mention County Road 50, and I did mention the culvert.
So it's been a good, heavy month of work.
MALE SPEAKER: Thank you.
MALE SPEAKER: How about the fuel port?
Is that going this year or is that going to get pushed in?
DENNIS LUEBBE: I talked to our consultant just yesterday.
We have not heard back from the low bid on their intention.
I do believe it is planned for next year, Commissioner.
I'm waiting for written confirmation on that
and I wanted to mention that today,
but I don't have it, so we should get that any day
with a schedule for work commencing next spring.
MALE SPEAKER: Thank you, Dennis.
Is that it?
DENNIS LUEBBE: Yep, yep.
MALE SPEAKER: I appreciate it.
Thank you much.
Next, we have finance with Paula O'Connell.
SARAH: And actually, I'll be taking it.
MALE SPEAKER: Thank you, Sarah.
SARAH: Yep.
Our prelim budget-- and I'm going to stay here because I'm
going to have multiple screens that I
can pull up our information depending
on where the questions land.
Sometime later this morning as well,
the budget packet will be updated for a new budget
roll forward document.
There was a section in there that
had some data from outside agencies
that needed to be updated, so that will be taken care of
and re-uploaded.
I do have an accurate copy that I can share on the screen
when we get to that point.
So let me move into a presentation here.
I just have to try to get it over to the other screen.
I'll try this instead.
There we are.
So I'm going to just go through the first couple of slides
we have every year with our mission, vision,
values, priorities, and the high level summary.
So for next week, this number is actually going
to go just a little bit lower.
We got some information at the end of last week.
As we talked about throughout the summer here
in legislative session, we're going
to be getting information on a rolling
basis beyond preliminary levy.
So towards the end of last week, we received some information.
I know when Angela Brewer was here talking about some
of their grants, we requested a one year extension.
We didn't know the results of that yet,
so we had that half time FTE on the levy instead of the grant,
because as far as we knew, that grant was going to be done.
We did get, towards the end of the week, notification
that one year, no cost extension was granted,
so that FTE will then shift from levy
to grant funding for next year.
That will take that down a little bit.
And then we had another position that we reviewed,
that instead of being full time, is going to be 0.75.
So that will move some things around too.
So for the purposes of today, these are the numbers.
But next week, when you see the resolution,
it will be a little bit lower than that.
So the 2026 budget recommendation
is $103,688,739 for all funds.
The 2025 budget was a little over 116 million.
You'll see this visually reflected later where you look
at in particular, like transportation projects can make
that swing, or when we have facility projects, things
like that, that are not our general ongoing operations,
where you'll see that number can shift what
would be pretty significantly.
So last year, we had more transportation projects.
This year, you'll see how transportation is a smaller
portion of the budget than it was
last year, just because again, you guys see the 10 year plan.
When we have larger, maybe federal or state funded projects
that's not levy, that can make that number move quite a bit.
So that's where we're sitting for this year.
Our total levy increase is $3,532,540.
If you think about all things equal, nothing changes.
What are the staff, because of health
care, bargaining agreement changes, things of that nature--
our personnel costs, including all the taxes,
and we have a new tax this year with the paid family leave tax
that will be going into play.
That's $3,157,000, so that leaves
$374,870 for other things.
The staffing is not a one-for-one
because we do have some positions where
a portion of their funding might be reimbursed
through state or federal programs,
or it might be a grant funded position.
So again, that staffing number isn't a one-for-one,
but that's what that increase in payroll is year over year.
And next year, we actually have a slight overall decrease
in FTE, so there's not going to be
an increase in our FTE from last year to this year,
or this year to next year.
Our HRA levy increase is 0.
We were able to stay flat based on funding they
get from a variety of sources.
And then the county and HRA combined levy is 8.87%,
and then I'll have that breakdown a little more further.
So the total 2026 property tax levy request is $43,354,666,
but that will change for next week.
Again, that will be a little bit lower than that.
MALE SPEAKER: Sarah?
SARAH: Yeah?
MALE SPEAKER: Could you go back just for a moment?
Our top line, our budget is $103,688,000.
And then you got in parentheses, $116,538,000.
SARAH: Yeah, that was this year's.
So just so you could see what our budget was for this year
for expenditures compared to what we're
going to be spending next year.
MALE SPEAKER: OK.
SARAH: Yep.
MALE SPEAKER: Thank you.
SARAH: And this is, again, kind of dialing down
a little bit, our levy by fund.
So you can see the changes for general fund, libraries, road
and bridge, human services, and compared
to what we levied in 2025.
So our total gross county levy is 7.6% increase.
And then you take into consideration
county program aid, which we're actually losing a bit.
And that impact, even though it's only a loss of $143,393,
it doesn't keep up with our cost of administering services.
So that's what makes that net levy net out to the 8.92.
So before the impact of county program aid, we're at 7.6,
then we go up to 8.92.
And we do have a slide that just talks about program aid,
but as a reminder for people's knowledge
here, we did have an infusion or the legislature
provided more money a few years back for additional program aid.
And that didn't change for this year, but what we get
is based on formula for how our county is either performing
or the demographics of our county compared
to other counties in the state.
So you have two parts to county program aid.
You've got county need aid and county
tax base equalization aid.
So for the county need aid, our share
is based on here's the money, here's
what the legislature appropriates
for each of those buckets.
And then part of it's distributed based on percentage
of our population that's 65 and older
compared to other counties with what their 65
and older population is.
The next part of that is based on what portion of our county,
how many residents receive SNAP benefits.
And then the other part is based on state group A offenses,
like part I crime data.
So it's kind of that hard thing too, because you
don't want crime committed.
You want a good economy where we don't need some
of those social safety nets.
So as you improve in those areas,
your aid goes down because then it
seems like the economy of your county is doing better,
and same thing on the tax base equalization aid.
There were some changes to this maybe--
I'm thinking 10 years ago, maybe a little longer,
because it talks about--
it's based on your county tax base.
And so there was a period of time particularly, like,
I was working in Southwest Minnesota, where
ag land was rapidly rising.
You had over $10,000 an acre, sometimes
close to $15,000 an acre.
The prices in the Minnesota River Valley
were very significant.
So those counties that were small and having
these rapid rises of ag land values,
their county program aid was decreasing pretty significantly.
So they put in this little formula piece
that is the greater of 0.27% of the statewide appropriation
for the equalization aid, or 95% of your county's
TBA for the previous year.
So that reduced the instability and that fluctuation
of that portion of aid, because again, that
was pretty significant for some counties
that had those large swings in the ag values.
So that's where, again, if money doesn't get added to that pool,
some counties will see a continual decline,
while other counties will see a continual increase.
So it's more of a policy thing when we get to legislature.
MALE SPEAKER: Excuse me, did you commissioners understand that?
SARAH: Sorry, it's complicated.
MALE SPEAKER: I mean, that was a lot to digest for me.
SARAH: I know.
I'll repeat it again during final, but that is just,
again, one of the complicated formulas that we deal with that
does have an impact on what our net levy looks like every year,
and it is a legislative point of discussion every year as well.
So if we look at the county HRA only tax rate and levy history,
over the past 10 years or so, our tax rate
estimate for this coming year is 38.96%, our levy change, 8.87.
I'm going to pull up another document here just
to show you some more info.
Let me see here.
I think it's on here.
And Josh was here earlier.
He talked about the trends and what we're seeing.
So these numbers in the bottom are
very close to his presentation but not quite the same.
These are a point in time number that we get when we're
working on preparing stuff.
So when you look at our taxable market value,
our projection at the point in time we did this document was
about that $10,817,000,000 mark, which was very close to what
Josh had in his presentation.
And our net tax capacity, which is what he was describing
in that very complex, all the property classifications and all
those classes are assigned at a tax rate,
based on what the state tells us,
each piece of parcel can be taxed
at, our net tax capacity for the county is $111,267,925--
again, an estimate at this point in time.
We have a little over $93 million in new construction,
so this isn't just values increasing
because of different market factors,
this is also new construction.
And that gives us our tax rate of 38.96%.
So basically, based on current tax capacity that the state
allows through their statutes and rules,
we're tapping into about 38% of that.
So we can, under their rules, tax $111 million.
We don't and are not going to.
So that's kind of what shows.
So we're looking at $43 million in property taxes.
Our ceiling is 111, if that kind of makes sense.
So our new estimated net tax capacity for new construction
is $838 million.
Our new construction tax revenue--
so of this increase that we're asking for, we're estimating
that $326,000 of that, maybe 3/4 of a percent-- a little more--
is going to be paid for by new construction
that we're experiencing.
So it's always good to see growth in our tax base.
That's what we're going for to help spread
that out a little bit more.
This is the document that's in the attachment,
but the more current version where it goes through
and talks about each department within the fund.
So the total general fund is going up 9.27%.
Some areas, we're kind of phasing out
some one-time funding that we received
and easing that off because that money is just about done.
We had an increase in that payroll tax
for the paid family leave, some things like that.
Let's see here-- extension, I'll talk about that one a bit
because that looks like a larger number,
and that number will come down a little bit.
But in the prior year-- so not this year in '24,
I think towards the end of '23 maybe,
a position was eliminated but it wasn't eliminated,
was only on pause.
But we took it off the levy and we
provided for funds for a facilitator
to determine what the needs were.
So we had a position, didn't feel like it was meeting
the needs we wanted to do.
We're reevaluating that, and so now we've
come up with some ideas so we can look at having the Extension
Committee review some job descriptions, come
to an agreement, and that was a 0.75 FTE.
So now for '26, we're anticipating that that 0.75 FTE
will be back in the budget when it's
been left unfilled for a year while they try to work
out the job descriptions.
Those positions are State of Minnesota, extension University
of Minnesota positions, so it's not like a job description
that we can just craft and change.
We have to work within what they have
and their union, their wages, their job descriptions.
So it's just a little bit different process to get
to where we want to get to.
But that'll be there, so that's why it looks like there's
a larger increase in extension, is to accommodate
for that position.
And if anything changes with that before final,
we'll make those changes.
Again, we show we had these fund summaries on the other page.
Human Services.
So throughout this fall, we had departments
come in that were going to be seeing more of an impact
from legislative changes.
So, like, we had Social Services presented a couple of times
on some different areas.
Community Corrections was in because there's
a little bit larger swing in community corrections.
So they came and talked twice to you all about the things
impacting their budget and what the needs were.
We had the 901 Center and some other smaller
presentations on budgets, so you could get the detail in there.
And when we do final budget, we'll
link to all those online resources
so people can go back and review the specific department
presentations on that for more information as well.
But in here, you'll see areas where, again, we might have
a little bit higher swing because we have new things that
are going in there, whether it's competency
attainment like Megan discussed, or we have increased services.
What you don't see in particular in Human Services,
are things that changed in session this year,
whether it's state or federal.
But a lot of those have delayed implementation.
So some things are end of fourth quarter next year, October,
so we might have that in there.
Some things are 2027 implementation,
some things are 2028.
And so departmental staff and myself
have been attending any opportunity we can,
federal and state online meetings and webinars
that they're holding.
And the message has pretty much been the same.
Like, here's the change, here's maybe a broad sweep of what they
think an impact would be, but the analysis is not complete as
to what that means for us here.
And so that information hopefully
will continue to develop over towards the end of this year.
Some of it we won't be getting maybe till next year.
So that's why we talked significantly about impacts
of changes and we've only seen an increase of 7.462%
because a lot of those changes are not
implemented quite yet next year, but they
will be seen in future years.
Debt service.
I have a thing on debt service to show you guys,
because we usually talk about this
and this is good for thinking ahead.
So all these numbers are our debt service chart
that Paula and finance track.
So I'm going to highlight because I
know this is itty-bitty.
But what it shows is how we structured our debt.
So for '25, '26, '27, '28, our debt service number is flat,
so we won't need to increase pending
a decision made to do anything else with additional debt.
$4,513,000 is our debt service through 2028.
Then you'll see in 2029, some prior debt service issues
are going to start to drop off.
They're going to be paid.
So we'll see a decrease of almost $700,000
in 2029 for debt service.
We'll see some little modifications
in the next several years, and then again, you
just see a continued drop off.
Looks like 2039, we'll get about a million decrease.
But this is what our schedule looks like
and how our debt is structured.
We try to do it so it remains as flat as possible.
So even when you see some drop off,
it might increase in another area,
again, because we try to always structure
our debt in a way that keeps it flat
so we don't see those large swings.
MALE SPEAKER: Sarah, our debt levy
is mainly due to our new law enforcement center.
Is that a big portion of that?
SARAH: So, half?
What do you think, Paula, about half?
It's little, but you can see, we've got--
let's see, that one comes off this year.
So we had a 2018 equipment certificate
that got paid off in '14.
The 2019 debt service for the GSB, so in 2019,
we had two issues because of the project and how we broke it up.
So those are on there.
Those are about-- let's see, between the two--
about $700,000 for that payment that
goes up to a little over eight in the last
year of payment in 2033.
And then the jail, the 2022 jail bonds are at 2.9.
So of the 4.5, 2.9 right now is the jail bonds.
And then there was a 2016 crossover refunding.
So when you have other bonds that you might
refund and restructure at any point in time,
you got refunding bonds.
So that is done in '28.
So again, in 2029, we'll see a decrease in our bond payment.
So the next couple of years, it'll be the same amount,
and that'll help, with the levy in that year,
offset that-- again, unless other decisions
are made in the meantime that might
change our debt service needs.
Our capital projects fund, that's another one
I'd just like to highlight.
Last year, in order to get the levy where it was,
we removed our annual contribution
to the capital projects fund.
So those are things for facility needs.
When you have a more major structural capital
type project with facilities, we use that fund.
So in 2025, we used some of it and then
we did not contribute to it.
And then this year, we are doing it again.
So we're going to be using $83,000
for projects that we have, and we're going to be levying 100.
Actually, we did levy for it last year.
One year, we didn't but anyhow, sorry about that.
We are going to be using 80-- so that's the use of fund balance,
is about $83,000 in projects that are more capital in nature
that we're going to be using from that fund,
and then we'll have that net of the 100
that we're going to be levying.
You're going to be having some meetings coming up regarding
environmental services in the landfill,
some studies that's going to talk about rates and things
like that.
But that environmental services fund is a self-sustaining fund
at this point.
But again, you will be looking at studies, landfill needs,
changes in legislation that might impact
our expenses going forward.
Those presentations will be forthcoming.
Oops, sorry.
MALE SPEAKER: Could you go back a page, Sarah?
MALE SPEAKER: Yes, go ahead.
MALE SPEAKER: Thank you.
The tax rate proposed for '26 is 38.9%.
What was it this last year, in '25 year?
SARAH: 37.
MALE SPEAKER: 37?
SARAH: Yep.
We've come down from, like, you see we were in the 40s.
I mean, it's kind of just bouncing back and forth here
depending on where we're at.
MALE SPEAKER: And how does this look compared
to surrounding counties?
SARAH: Yep, and I can get the most recent.
I don't have it on me, but we're typically in the lower
of the tax rates in the state.
But there is annually a report that comes out
that shows that information, so we're in the better
off of the tax rate counties.
We're not the lowest.
That's usually like a county to the north of us
in particular that stays towards the bottom.
Yeah, no, we sit really nice, but there
are reports that come out annually
and I can get that information.
So part of our 2026 budget also includes the use
of fund balance and reserves.
So in most instances, it's from money that has been set aside
for special purposes, one time money
that we receive for special purposes,
departments that have fund balances for specific projects
like environmental services--
again, one time state or federal funding.
So our projected based on our use of $2 million for
will still have the estimated fund
balances that are shown above.
So some things that we're using fund balances for
is, we had some money set aside when we
were going to go self-insured.
And so as part of our health insurance agreements
for the next three years, since we decided
not to go self-insured, we're spending
down that employer and employee portion of those funds.
So those were funds that have been sitting in our reserve that
have been dedicated for that purpose
that we're now going to be spending down because we don't
need to hold them anymore, because we're
not going to go self-insured.
So we're spending those down.
Same thing with some public safety funds or highway funds
or other, again, one time revenues
that we received that we are intending to spend down.
But again, at the end of the year,
we should still have a healthy, appropriate fund balance.
We discussed this the beginning of the month
here, our board agency, the outside appropriation requests
that you heard during August.
And so we have our 2025 board approved,
the 2026 requested, and the 2026 board recommends.
So after discussion, we've kept the outside agency requests
at their 2025 level and made adjustments for areas
with the two, with the Historical Society
and the Ag Society, where we pay for the insurance.
And those rates went up, and that's kind of what it is.
There's not an option there, and so those are
the only modifications to that.
So our level for outside agency funding
goes from $856,256 to $868,661.
And that change is just due to insurance changes,
but all other things remained the same.
This, we covered in detail, but here
is the history of what our county program aid looked like.
So you can see where the state made that infusion of funds,
so we got a bump.
And then now we're going back down a little bit,
just based on our demographics of our county
compared to others.
Adjustment to fees.
So when we go through and meet with departments on the budget,
we talk about what are the fees for service
that we have control over.
Are they appropriate?
Do they need to be changed?
In December, you all review the fee schedule and approve that.
So we made changes where we knew they were going to be made
and then we'll present that fee schedule for discussion
in detail in December.
Here are some of the different visual things you can see.
We are a service.
We provide services, so bulk of our expenditures by type
are personnel.
And our revenue.
This is where you're going to see a little bit of flipping
from the prior year.
So for 2026, 42% of our budget is property taxes
and penalties and 37% intergovernmental.
So that's like our federal, state,
and other governmental revenues we get in.
Last year, it was flipped where we had I think 34% of our budget
was funded by property taxes and more was
funded by intergovernmental.
Some of it is due to decreasing, but also, we
had that large transportation project too.
So that kind of skews us more than normal.
Because if we don't have that project,
that doesn't count as funding.
So again, take it a little bit with a grain of salt
that those things can make these changes in something.
One project could make those numbers go back and forth.
Our expenditures by function.
Again, this is where you can visually
see that last year, road and bridge was higher
than public safety and social services,
again, because of the road program for that year.
This year, the road program looks different.
And so you'll see human services as being 25% of our expenditure
by function, public safety at 20,
and then road and bridge at 17, and general government at 14.
So again, depending on what some of our programming
is for any given year, what portion of the budget
is larger changes from time to time.
Joy was in and presented on her budget
during one of her meetings earlier this month.
So this just, again, talks about what our levy use is,
but she went into detail with you guys on her budget.
And special purpose funding for 2026
that we're still administering, the opioid litigation funding.
We approved an MOA a little earlier--
I think it was actually still this month--
for some services, with most to be able to continue
that program, to provide some gap funding while they reassess
opportunities for other state or federal sources
to keep that going.
The spending plan will be discussed in full in December.
We have some community engagement activities
between now and then, but just know that the opioid litigation
funding, that number might change
within the detail of the budget, but that's not Levy funds.
There are eligible certain uses that we use and we discuss those
with community members, and then the spending plan
is presented in December when we have our final levy meeting.
The local homeless prevention aid for fiscal year '25,
again, they're kind of rolling years.
So part of it's this year, part of it's next year,
and same thing in '27.
Goes up a little bit for fiscal year '26,
so this is one that the funding is very specific to support
new or existing family homeless prevention
and assistance projects or programs.
We work with other agencies to administer this funding.
It's targeted towards families with children.
So annually, we report on this.
I usually give an update in December about some impact.
Again, it's to stabilize households with children that
are school age children in the homes that are either paying
more than 50% of their income for rent, lacking
fixed, regular or nighttime residence,
living in overcrowded conditions,
or facing eviction and things like that to help stabilize
families and provide connects with organizations
to provide wraparound services.
So this has been a pretty successful program.
And this was a legislative appropriation
that's pretty specific.
We also are in our final years of the statewide
affordable housing aid.
So these are for the purposes of construction acquisition, things
that work towards providing and increasing affordable housing
opportunities in the county.
We've used our money so far to support the engineering
and design on Twin Oaks.
In the last year, we'll be able to look at other opportunities
for how we use that affordable housing aid in the community
for eligible activities.
Looking at when we're going to have our public hearing
on the proposed budget will be Thursday,
December 11 at 6:00 PM.
So kind of just a note, we will not have a regular board
meeting that week because that aligns
with our annual conference.
But then that Thursday, we'll come together that night
for a public hearing.
So if you have any questions--
MALE SPEAKER: I have a question.
MALE SPEAKER: Yes, go ahead.
MALE SPEAKER: Do we have built-in
for a downtown maintenance building here?
SARAH: No.
So I have some meetings tomorrow to talk
about some different things with other parties.
I know that's very vague.
We have some opportunities to talk about
that I'll bring forward to you.
This does not include a building there.
That will be part of an ongoing discussion
of how we meet those needs, but that is not in this budget.
MALE SPEAKER: Any other questions, commissioners?
MALE SPEAKER: Uh, yeah.
SARAH: I know, it's a lot of information.
And we'll keep working this through to the end of the year
as we get more information, more clarity on changes.
The prelim you set next week is the max.
We can't go lower.
Besides this grant that we heard back from, unless some funding
opportunities return to us or loosen up a bit,
I'm not going to say that I anticipate
that it's going to get much lower than what it is.
If anything, we're going to look a little worse
and we'll have to accommodate in one area or another.
But we can't go higher than what you set next week.
MALE SPEAKER: Well, I appreciate the pie charts.
I'm a visual guy and I can relate to that quite well.
Yeah.
MALE SPEAKER: I do have a question.
MALE SPEAKER: Go ahead.
MALE SPEAKER: What percent of this 8.9% or 8.8 levy
is personnel, between health insurance?
SARAH: Yep, one moment here.
I'll get that for you.
And some of that's a little--
again, I talked about it's not a one-for-one on the levy
because of all of that.
But I can show you of our budget, so of the $106 million,
54% of that is personnel services.
It's staff.
So how that kind of proportionately shakes out just
depends on what percentage of a position
might be funded by another source-- grant,
state, federal reimbursement.
So it's easier to say of our budget,
here's what personnel expenses are.
I don't know, Paula, if you've got another--
FEMALE SPEAKER: It's complicated, because I can say,
let's say that we have funding sources in there for that,
and that we do support that budget.
But we can tell you what the total is.
We can we tell you what the comparison is from last year
to this year to break it down by types of benefits and overtime,
and things like that.
SARAH: Yep, and our personnel again increased a little
over 3 million, but that doesn't one-for-one
go on our levy increase, just because some of those positions
are funded differently.
MALE SPEAKER: I understand it's a hard number to hit.
SARAH: Yeah.
So if we look at last year, we were down, around 52,
high $52 million for personnel.
That includes health care, taxes, all those things.
MALE SPEAKER: So Sarah, basically,
just so people understand, I think transparency is the best
thing we can be right now as far as what we're up against
and what we're doing.
Oh, gosh.
I lost my train of thought.
Well, one thing-- and Susie or Sarah,
how available is the public to these pie charts,
so they can see what we're doing and what we're up against?
SARAH: Yeah, so once we're done with this presentation,
we can upload it in the packet so people can see it.
MALE SPEAKER: So that would be out on our website?
SARAH: Yep.
MALE SPEAKER: Yeah, OK.
I think that's important.
Yeah, I don't know.
Did anybody else have anything?
SARAH: I think Commissioner Peter stopped in a couple times
for some of our department meetings
to see our process behind the scenes and the work
that we put in ahead of bringing it to you all.
So I think this year, I'm very thankful to the departments
for coming in, understanding the situation.
We had a much lower initial request
than we have in other years, because everyone
knew this is not the year to ask for anything new.
We need to figure out how to sustain
or how to make changes to accommodate for any cuts, which
was a good thing but it also made it a lot harder
to find those areas where we could get it down from that
15% down to something under 10.
It made the work a little harder.
And social services in particular put a lot of work
into evaluating things.
One area I should have highlighted when we're talking
about-- and I didn't.
Let me pull it up here real quick again--
that kind of helped us get that last little mile here,
let me see if it's on.
And it might not be.
It's not going to be in this chart, I don't think.
Oh, maybe.
So this thing called contingency fund.
What it is, is anticipated wage savings.
And that's the number we work with a little bit at the end
to try to get us down.
So we look at what's our usual savings in a given
year because of vacancies and time to fill,
and things like that.
And then in particular, like in social services,
we looked at with some of the changes that are coming,
do we have some positions that are going to have a leg
and being filled?
Because we're going to pivot what service
we're needing to provide based on what we're mandated to do.
And so we changed that number from that $1,044,000
that we have as an offset of wage savings,
to $1,283,000 based on--