[0:00] full
fun county contract.
[0:05] But um it's difficult when we've got
such a high percentage of our staff and
[0:12] benefits going to employees in our
entire budget to start, you know,
[0:19] saying, "Well, you can't have new
pencils and you can't have new paper and
[0:23] you can't I mean, we don't want to we
don't want to I I don't want to. I guess
[0:29] I can't speak for the rest of the
commission, but I don't want to go
[0:32] through piece by piece by piece. Okay,
you get less $450 and you get less
[0:37] $1,200. And when you start doing all of
that to add up to a significant number
[0:44] in the budget for some programs, that
can be a lot. I mean, substantial.
[0:50] What if we can't get any office
supplies? What if we can't use the
[0:54] copier? Things like that. um in giving
half to the county contracts and you're
[1:02] providing this spreadsheet
that would be
[1:08] a reduction of
you're looking at just the contracted
[1:13] services.
>> I'm looking just at contracted services.
[1:19] » Well, this includes contracted services,
economic development, and historical
[1:24] suspect. Great.
So, it's about $100,000 different.
[1:32] That's got to be more than that.
>> Yeah. We would have to lower the general
[1:36] fund budget by 42,600
as opposed to the 69418.
[1:47] If we did that, that would do $100,000
[1:52] approximately, right?
Well, we would so the difference between
[1:58] the 694181
and the 42,600 would be the difference
[2:04] um
the amount we would save if we cut these
[2:08] in half, but we'd still have to reduce
the general fund.
[2:14] » Great. Great.
>> Um then I have another Can I ask another
[2:18] question, Madam Chair?
>> Oh, I'm sorry. Really quick.
[2:20] » Sorry.
On the subject of the historical
[2:24] that we we do have an agreement with the
historical society that we will levy a
[2:30] quarter of a mill and if we choose to go
below that um it requires 60 days notice
[2:36] of the budget approved so
[2:43] » you're saying we can't cut it
>> not for this year I think the deadline
[2:51] something should learn to
Okay,
[2:55] » make a note of that for next year. Now,
>> okay,
[2:59] » might be zero next year.
>> So, when we're looking at cash
[3:05] and my spreadsheet, whether it's the
first one or the second one, the
[3:12] spreadsheet for cash, one is well, it's
both. 14,355,82.
[3:20] Is that correct?
>> Yes. And that's what we have in the bank
[3:24] right now.
>> No, that would be the estimates.
[3:28] » Okay.
>> For the end of
[3:30] » Do you know what we have in the bank
right now? I'm sorry. I'm asking all
[3:35] these questions. I don't mean to
>> send out this budget to actual because
[3:39] there was a question on the cash.
>> Yeah,
[3:41] » it was 18 million um at the end of June,
but that also includes
[3:46] all the funds that are listed below the
general fund. The general fund actually
[3:50] had um a balance at the end of June of
21,516
[3:57] um projected at the end of the year at
14 million 522.
[4:03] and Colleen. Um, I I can't remember what
I had for lunch yesterday, but it seems
[4:09] to me that in recent years when we've
looked at balancing the budget, and
[4:14] maybe you or some of the commission
members can remember or staff, um, it
[4:20] seems to me that was it last year that
we spent 12 million to buy down the
[4:26] budget or was that
>> cash to buy them?
[4:29] » Yeah, I don't think it was that much. I
don't know.
[4:32] » Oh, it wasn't that much.
>> $12 million.
[4:34] » But right now,
guesstimate,
[4:39] we have $12 million in cash carry for
approximate
[4:46] guesstimated or 14 million, I'm sorry.
Um right now
[4:51] even if we if we sitting right here and
if I said okay instead of doing the cuts
[5:02] the whatever the whatever and if we
needed to take cash carry forward to
[5:08] fund the rest of the budget with the 3%
increase on our taxes how much would
[5:15] that cost?
[5:22] If we if we took if we looked at the
budget right now and had a 3% increase
[5:29] for taxes, how much cash carry forward
would it cost to buy to to fund the
[5:36] budget right where we're at right now?
[5:42] » To get under the cap.
>> Oh. Um, so if
[5:49] the Well, it depends if you're cutting
the contract.
[5:53] » Well, do it without first, right?
>> And then do it with I'm sorry, I got a
[5:57] calculator
181. Um,
[6:05] » 69481 is with contracted services.
>> Yes, we need to cut the general fund
[6:11] budget.
I mean, we can reduce the cash. I don't
[6:16] know the amount of 10.
>> Do we know? I'm sorry I'm asking those
[6:21] questions. Do we know, and maybe Sheriff
Schneider can help me with this, do we
[6:26] know if there's any uh movement on the
uh contract with DOC right now or not
[6:35] for the beds at the jail?
So, um, Chair Hagen, members of the
[6:43] commission, just I just checked with
Miss Miss Morstead, and if I'm recalling
[6:47] our budget for 2025 correctly, we have
approximately just over a million, I
[6:53] believe it's 1.1 million in revenue from
housing out of county prisoners. Uh, we
[7:00] could potentially, we got our
certificate of occupancy, so we could
[7:03] potentially start housing people
possibly even next week or this weekend.
[7:09] in the new pod. Uh the doc contract is
not finalized, but I just had a meeting
[7:15] with some federal partners yesterday. We
had meetings with federal partners two
[7:19] weeks ago asking for beds. Uh we could
obviously start selling those beds as
[7:26] soon as we occupy or can get staff to
staff it. And uh with 156 days left this
[7:35] year and we sell 72 beds off, leaving a
couple for ourselves. Uh that's that's
[7:43] obviously starting tomorrow, which isn't
going to happen. That's over a million
[7:46] dollars,
uh that we could add to the revenue that
[7:50] was not accounted for this year. Uh the
other thing with with Miss Horstead's
[7:56] numbers as far as the uh revenue from
the beds, something that wasn't
[8:01] clarified is by dropping the number from
60 beds to 72 beds doesn't mean those 12
[8:09] beds are going to be full of prisoners
from this the county of Grand Forks.
[8:14] Like I just said, we've had two meetings
and they want as many beds as they can
[8:17] get right now. The intention of that is
to allow us some flexibility. So if we
[8:22] do have an influx of prisoners, we could
house people in those. But when we're
[8:26] not housing people there, we can sell
those beds off as well. So in actuality,
[8:30] we should still be very very close to
the 2.68 million revenue for 2026 on
[8:36] those beds, even if we retain 12 extra
out of the 72. Is the federal
[8:43] reimbursement rate per day different
than the one we're talking about with
[8:47] the state doc?
>> Not yet. We're locked in. I found out
[8:51] we're locked in until uh December, but
they're all willing to renegotiate um
[8:56] for January.
>> So, I remember did we change it to that
[9:02] number or not?
>> No. No.
[9:07] » There was 72 beds in the original. not
even the original, the amended design by
[9:13] the former administration,
uh they worked on adding an additional
[9:19] 10 beds to the unit, but the
conversation with the state was always
[9:23] for the 72,
>> right?
[9:25] » So that would pick us up an extra 10 at
the county side. I mean, DOCR just did
[9:31] their inspection and we got dinged in
several areas and one of them was over
[9:35] bunking areas because we're not meeting
the criteria, the amount of space these
[9:40] prisoners need to actually get up and
walk.
[9:42] » Yeah,
>> we can no longer trip, it's called
[9:45] triple bunking. We can no longer throw a
boat on the floor and say sleep here.
[9:50] Can't do it. We're in violation. We
continue to do it. We won't have to
[9:53] worry about renting to anybody. Um, so
we got to make modifications for that.
[9:59] Uh, and that's, you know, part of that
is something that I hate doing and
[10:03] that's throwing criminals back on the
street so they can come steal your
[10:07] stuff, do whatever, run from the police,
and then we got nowhere to put them.
[10:11] Well, we got to lock them up for a day,
so we got to throw somebody else back on
[10:14] the street. So, I mean, the jail wasn't
built for the state to house pen
[10:20] prisoners there. I I get that. I get
both sides of the argument. I get that
[10:24] we can't afford it. I'm not arguing that
either. Right? But the reality is if we
[10:29] want to do our job to try to keep people
locked up or throw people in jail that
[10:34] need to be thrown in jail, even if it is
for a day or a night, we need to retain
[10:39] a couple beds on it. We'll sell the
rest. We got to have some room. We can't
[10:45] we can't just sell every single bed
that's there and try to make new beds to
[10:49] sell those to pay for this. So, we'll
sell as many as we can. I mean, that's
[10:53] that's our objective, right? If if
you're not using it, let somebody that
[10:57] can use it use it.
[11:01] » All right, go for it. Um, Colleen, with
the budget that we have sitting in front
[11:06] of us, we don't have any contract
dollars put in from Department of
[11:11] Corrections at this point. Am I correct
in that assumption?
[11:15] » We increase the prisoner board payment
3.29.
[11:21] Okay,
>> that would increase to reflect 60 beds
[11:24] to the state.
>> Okay,
[11:26] » but you could increase that number. What
I'm saying is we would sell the beds
[11:30] that we're not using. I just want to
have a little control over maybe 12
[11:34] beds. That'd be great.
>> We're going to sell them. So, you could
[11:38] probably increase that number by another
300,000 safely, if not more.
[11:44] » Back to where it was originally with the
82 beds.
[11:49] And I would like to
>> I would like to move a motion
[11:55] » to use
694,000
[11:59] or whatever it is to balance the budget
including the 3% tax increase
[12:06] um using cash carry forward to balance
the budget for the 2026 year.
[12:15] » The way they are. keeping the contracted
services the way they are and um doing
[12:21] the change in the well that's already
been made the change in the um employee
[12:28] uh HR coming in monthly instead of all
frontloaded um but that would be my
[12:34] motion using cash carry forward plus the
3% increase in taxes um to balance the
[12:42] 2026 bud
>> and the dollar amount is that going to
[12:44] change will
But I
[12:48] » But I'm just saying like with the
motion, does it have to be dollar
[12:51] specific? Can it just be cash carried
forward? Because if we make any
[12:54] adjustments to the budget,
>> that's a question for you.
[13:00] » Do we have to um do we have to say the
very exact dollar amount or just say
[13:05] cash carry forward to balance the budget
of no more than
[13:10] $700,000?
[13:13] Is that okay?
Will $700,000 cut it?
[13:18] » Okay, I make that motion.
>> I
[13:22] added 300.
>> Yep. Okay. I I make that motion.
[13:28] » Second.
>> Second.
[13:31] » I'm going do it all then. Number one,
that's exactly the reason we're in the
[13:34] shape we're in right now. Continuing to
take money to pay operational expenses
[13:38] out of cash reserve. I got my 12 pages.
Here we go. because you put you threw a
[13:43] motion on the floor for you could even
talk. So, let's go. Um,
[13:49] now I got the floor. So, get comfortable
everyone. Um, starting with this page
[13:54] here.
Um,
[13:59] you have a show two Yak attendants at
212107
[14:04] and somewhere else I found him at 161
whatever. So, how'd it go up $50,000?
[14:12] One sheet says one number, one sheet
says the other.
[14:19] » This
sheet is just the cost of it without I
[14:24] mean that's the cost of what it costs to
add to
[14:28] » Okay. So the 161 is the real cost.
That's what it cost to hire, right?
[14:32] » Okay. That's what I make sure.
>> Okay. down below. Next, you have 3% step
[14:40] at the number, 2 and a half% cola at the
number. So, if you give a 3% step and a
[14:46] two and a four two and 4% cola, how does
that only equal 300,000?
[14:54] Because 181 and 222 is 403
866.
[15:05] And this is not supposed to I don't
understand how that works because if a
[15:09] step is that a cost and a cola is that
cost then if we get a colon a step
[15:14] shouldn't those two cost come together
and make a number which is higher than
[15:18] that number
>> well and the so on the one sheet we have
[15:23] the negative 80,000 that's due to
getting a step
[15:29] this year which isn't
>> okay I'm looking I'm looking at this one
[15:35] So, not everyone has received their step
>> yet.
[15:39] » This is the one I'm looking at.
>> So, I am baffled by
[15:46] shouldn't a step and a cola
equal a step and a cola.
[15:56] » 22. If it's if the step is 180, that's
the cost and the cola that's the cost.
[16:02] Didn't you add those two together
because we're going to give a cola and a
[16:06] stem?
[16:11] » Have I got everyone back?
>> No.
[16:14] » Um, would that be because on on a cola
and a step the steps on the adversary
[16:19] date colas are effective Jan one.
>> Well, I did that because
[16:23] » so it's not a cumulative increase. It's
an increase and then another increase
[16:28] later on at at an anniversary date. That
makes sense.
[16:32] » They don't all get the same step at the
same time.
[16:35] » Maybe I was just doing wrong, but to me,
if it says the step cost 181737,
[16:40] that's what it's going to cost for the
whole year for all employees to be
[16:44] stepped. Is that right?
Because if then in the cola for the
[16:49] whole year for every employee is 222
and it should be a little over 400.
[16:59] Okay. I I we can decide that on one
Tuesday night, I guess. But I don't
[17:05] understand it. I'm not afraid to say it.
So maybe I'm just not getting it, but I
[17:09] I to me 1 plus 1 is two if that's the
numbers. So I I don't understand that
[17:15] one. So that
okay worksheet.
[17:22] Okay.
[17:25] When I went through here, we're have
showing a mill. This is the one here.
[17:31] We're showing a mill increase of 4.04%.
[17:37] And on this document, it states that the
3.47%
[17:42] of that 4.04
is because of new growth. Is that
[17:49] correct? And so then the actual value
increase for the county
[17:57] was 0.57.
So basically the value barely went up
[18:02] for the whole county and that 3.47 is
all the new buildings whoever whatever
[18:09] came on this that and all that. Am I
understanding that correctly?
[18:12] » Okay. Thank you.
[18:25] discussion.
>> Yeah, I have to talk.
[18:27] » Okay. I thought this was switching the
subject.
[18:30] » No, this is the budget.
>> I'm on the budget.
[18:31] » I'm on the budget. I'm not No, I'm not.
No, this is all budget all day. No, we
[18:35] » there is a time limit. I don't know if
there is for how long, you know, full
[18:40] pages.
>> Well, the time limits when when we're
[18:42] done with the meeting. Uh we'll take a
break if we need to. We uh this is too
[18:46] important of a deal to be worried about
time. Um
[18:51] that one.
[18:58] Okay. On this page,
[19:02] I got two questions. Number one, this
would be for Miss Wstead. Uh on the
[19:09] left, far left, not there often. Uh
starting with the
[19:15] Uh, historical society.
>> Yeah, I'll wait. Yeah.
[19:28] Yeah, that's it. Okay. I just want to
So, I want to get this straight so it's
[19:32] not going to happen again. So, the
historical, we have to give them 60-day
[19:35] notice,
>> correct? People's going to release it
[19:38] below the 0.25 mills.
>> Okay. And we're at 2.5 ms
[19:44] » now. Correct.
[19:50] » That's what the request.
>> So we are less than
[19:55] » hope that she allow this and senior
citizens. That's a vote. So we have no
[19:59] say in the matter. Correct. The city
voted I think it was 1974
[20:04] for one mill
[20:08] » 1988.
[20:15] Every day we find more stuff we can't
touch. I can't balance the budget.
[20:24] » Okay. Emergency fund we can address. We
can control that. The veteran service we
[20:30] control.
[20:36] » Right. Right. Uh extension service
[20:55] want to discontinue the tax levy.
>> Well, I don't want to discontinue, but
[21:01] can we can we modify the amount they
request? Today they asked for I'm just
[21:07] gonna make me remember. Say they asked
for 100,000. Can we decide to cut it to
[21:10] 50?
[21:36] If you want I can we can skip that and
you come back to that if you want me to
[21:38] get that. Okay. Health department we we
can control that right
[21:44] » that's subject to a contract we have
with
[21:46] » right special assessments we control
state tax we do not garrison diversion
[21:50] we do not water resource board which is
different from the
[21:56] joint water resolution. So the water
resource board can we reduce what they
[22:02] asked for?
[22:06] Well I look I I know the joint water we
cannot touch that. We cannot touch the
[22:12] amlets because that's voted on. We
cannot touch the soil conversation
[22:16] conservation.
[22:20] That just leaves the water resource
board, the library, and I know we can do
[22:25] the library as long as the city
branches.
[22:28] So regard to the water resource board
commissioners can either disapprove
[22:33] their budget, amend and approve their
budget, amend it or approve the budget
[22:38] as
>> Okay.
[22:40] » So we can amend it. We can Okay. And
then the library
[22:53] subject to an agreement with the city
that pertains to the library which
[22:58] requires us.
[23:02] » Right. But I'm not saying but if they
ask for X we can reduce
[23:08] as long as we maintain funding. I'm not
talking about eliminating. I'm just
[23:12] saying if they asked for X can we cut X
some? the agreement um with the city
[23:19] provides that we will
[23:26] » So you're saying we have to limit four
mills because we're not doing that now.
[23:32] » Oh, the city request
>> two.
[23:34] » Okay. The library request or the city
request?
[23:36] » The library city department. So
>> it must come through the city then.
[23:43] » Yes. So if the city would have to ask us
to fund more
[23:47] if we if we tried to cut it they'd say
no that we'd have done.
[23:51] » So I think our agreement for the library
services is that um we will fund their
[23:58] request up to a maximum of four. So if
they ask to go above that we can deny
[24:04] it. So
>> if they ask for
[24:06] they asked for a $400,000 raise this
year we would have to give it to them.
[24:12] Okay. Okay. The city would have to do
that though
[24:14] » if it's within that.
>> Yeah. But not the library board.
[24:19] » The library board.
>> The library board runs the library, but
[24:23] if it's a city department, I would
assume the mayor would have a final say.
[24:27] » Library board is admin is an
administrative.
[24:32] » The our agreements with the library
board. I can't speak to
[24:37] what I can say is it's a um it's a city
library.
[24:43] » Yeah.
>> That we contract with to provide
[24:46] services which is different than some
structure.
[24:49] » Okay. I'll need a copy of that contract
and uh Okay. Is there an opt out clause
[24:54] in there?
>> No.
[24:57] » The contract is that
>> the library director submits the library
[25:02] budget to the mayor's office. Yeah. And
then that's when the
[25:07] » library board is adversarial only. The
library board doesn't make
[25:13] » any questions for him about the library
and the budget.
[25:17] » I'll get a hold of. So basically the way
I'm hearing it is the city decides what
[25:22] the county has to pay for the library.
Am I wrong in that comment? I think the
[25:27] library budget and maybe the two is
approved by the library.
[25:34] It's adversarial I believe but we don't
have like the final say on this is what
[25:38] we're spending. No,
>> it's a review budget basically.
[25:43] » We acknowledge that dollar amount and
take that forward to the city, but
[25:48] there's no um
>> the the board is adversarial. The board
[25:54] doesn't say, "Oh, you're giving this
dollar amount to this board to this
[25:59] library member. We don't agree with I
mean, we're not it's not micromanaged at
[26:04] all."
>> Well, the library director presents it,
[26:07] we review it, ask questions, and then
that's what gets submitted for final
[26:11] review.
[26:16] » Okay. Oh, that's right. If I want to cut
it today, could I make a motion to cut
[26:20] the budget for the library? I can't make
it any simpler.
[26:25] » That contract.
>> Okay. I'll need a copy of the contract.
[26:28] Not today, but if printed on the 85
on August 5th, can you just give it to
[26:35] me then? Print. Okay. And I'll meet with
the city on that myself. Okay. So, I'll
[26:39] work on the library and the extension. I
hope everyone understands what we're
[26:43] doing to ourselves here. We have 63
pairs of handcuffs on our budget. We
[26:47] have all these things.
And when when the taxes go up, do the
[26:53] people go the oh the water board ra
raised oh the library no you know who
[26:57] raised taxes the county commission
raised taxes. It's this is bad way to do
[27:03] it. We're we're we got to give money to
people and we literally have no say.
[27:08] That's nutso.
>> But the services that we provide
[27:12] shouldn't cost any more money and the
services that were mandated by our
[27:17] century code. Well, Gracie Graciey's
making a list of the century code. We'll
[27:22] we'll be going after that come next
session. The point
[27:25] » years.
>> Yeah.
[27:26] » A year and a half.
>> I'm a dog with a
[27:29] » happen every month. Every year.
>> I know. And maybe some of these
[27:32] questions should have been asked by
commissioners the last 20 years. But I
[27:35] digress.
So, uh I'll wait for the ext answer on
[27:39] the extension service and I will get
with the city on the library and get a
[27:45] copy of the contract as soon as we go
there. But you whittle down your
[27:48] opportunities. You know, we sit here
discussing about trying to give an
[27:52] employees raise. Well, time to get
through all the people we can't cut.
[27:56] There's not much left.
Um,
[28:02] and I just want to mention a side note
on the cash balance. You've got a $5
[28:06] million sheriff building payment due
down the road. And when you keep kicking
[28:10] the can down the road, that's why at the
end of the road you have a lot of cans.
[28:14] You've got a potential. We're using
software from whatever decade that's out
[28:21] so far out of date. And by the way, I
still need a price on that. I want to
[28:24] know the price to get the right software
that does everything. So, we got old
[28:29] software. We got a building we got to
pay for.
[28:32] Uh, we've got a potential remodel of the
courthouse.
[28:37] You just you keep spending it. We just
run out of money one day. Just a point
[28:41] of clarific
[28:49] but but what we have now as they say is
so out of date and we can't inter it
[28:53] doesn't interface
>> uh no I'm talking about the whole city
[28:59] system we can't update our payroll
system a county I'm sorry the county
[29:03] system the payroll doesn't talk to it
whatever we got to replace everything so
[29:09] we can become efficient when she she
talked about that uh that we can't do it
[29:14] right now because it doesn't
>> chitchat.
[29:20] » Well, that's what I'll talk about. I
want to know the price for everything
[29:24] because you know what? If we don't have
prices and we don't plan
[29:29] just going to keep getting worse. That's
why that stuff's got to be on like the
[29:33] the six-year capital improvement plan.
So, let's just say it's half a million.
[29:37] I have no idea. Let's just say it's
500,000. We got to pick a year and stick
[29:40] it on there. 500 grand so we're ready.
Otherwise, we just keep using old
[29:45] payroll and just keep using those time
cards.
[29:48] » I'll bring that to the August 5th
commission meeting, Commissioner Beri.
[29:52] So,
>> I just I see the best guess you guess on
[29:54] the money just so I can
>> still has that. We'll bring it up on the
[29:57] Okay. and also not only the cost upfront
but then what you would end up having to
[30:02] pay either monthly or annually to
continue to utilize that soft
[30:08] because there is a cost involved it's
not free
[30:11] » we could just go back to pads and pans
that's fine with me but I just ch why
[30:16] not have the plow guys drive around with
pickups with half a blade on I mean th
[30:20] this job is just as important as their
other job and the people should have
[30:23] up-to-date equipment which is the
software otherwise we can't. Well,
[30:28] that's why you still keep doing time
cards. I I'm not going to go through
[30:31] this in detail, but this is I asked Mr.
Ford to show you how much money we're
[30:36] not going to be collecting as we
continue to let people not pay taxes.
[30:40] You just made a motion to raise taxes.
Here's a list of all the people that
[30:43] aren't paying their fair share,
>> their previous years. Well, I'm
[30:48] » and some have already been paid off and
I believe in 2026,
[30:54] the end of 2026, we will see one of the
tiff or one of the pilot programs end
[31:03] and then that will go into the tax
space. Am I correct on that?
[31:07] » Yeah, some of them end in 2049, which I
won't be around to see uh on the capital
[31:13] improvements plan. Oh, tail toes. Uh, at
one point last year, you had re-roofing
[31:19] the jail. Where are we at? The old jail.
And that's not on here.
[31:26] » That that got approved. That got
approved for capital improvements this
[31:29] year. That project is in place and CL
has been
[31:34] » with this for the old
>> No, no. I I meant uh I'm sorry, the old
[31:40] part of the current jail. Uh originally
there was a plan to re-root for over a
[31:45] three-year phase.
>> That's on there.
[31:47] » Okay. What what's it under?
>> That's on that. That's on that plan.
[31:53] » What year?
>> I believe 27
[32:02] » receal jail syines. No.
[32:13] Okay, I can't find her.
[32:43] That would be
it wouldn't uh Bill I don't think it
[32:49] would be on the sheep coin handed out
because this is for 26.
[32:52] » I got I got a fiveyear plan.
>> Okay.
[33:00] » It it's
I I know it's in my list. I don't know.
[33:06] » I can't say why it's why it's in print.
>> Okay, that's fine.
[33:10] » On the format that you're in here, but I
>> I do know it's on there.
[33:14] » Okay. Can you email me that?
>> And originally the plan was to regroup
[33:18] over three years.
>> Yes.
[33:19] » I'd like to look at it, which obviously
you pay mobilization cost every year.
[33:24] » Inevitable.
>> It's going to cost more. I'd like to see
[33:26] a plan of what it would cost to pay it
in one.
[33:28] » Yeah.
>> If you could put vocals,
[33:32] » that goes back to plan. So there's other
roof stuff you got to have. You spend
[33:35] your cash reserves down and and if you
do it three years instead of one year,
[33:39] you're going to pay more for that, too.
It's going to cost you more.
[33:45] Um,
[33:52] okay.
I'm going to go through this Jack stuff.
[33:55] I know you guys don't want to do it, but
I I'm the math guy, so I just want to
[33:59] make sure you see what you're doing
here. First of all, just say this.
[34:02] There's a reason 50 other counties don't
have it. Either they're too small that
[34:05] they can add. Um if you look at this one
here
[34:14] uh
you have on here additional jail cos.
[34:19] Does that mean we can house people in
those beds that are on the other side?
[34:24] Because why else would we be hiring jail
cos?
[34:27] » That was just that for adult housing.
>> Okay. Can we use that for adult housing?
[34:34] » But it wouldn't be very You're talking
the 16 beds.
[34:36] » Yeah.
>> Yeah.
[34:39] » Okay.
[34:42] » Well, if it's 16 bids at $100 a day
would be 1648,
[34:49] 600,000.
[34:53] » 1,600 times 365 584.
So, what do we get on a daily basis for
[35:00] the youth that we have housed in that
facility?
[35:03] » 350. So, 350 compared to 100?
>> No. No. I'll get to that.
[35:10] » That's Yeah,
>> you don't want to get in that battle
[35:14] with me.
Trust me, that's 5484,000 in revenue
[35:19] » for that. The total if you want to go
back to that the total revenue for the
[35:24] act for the year is
614 631 let me see I have it in here
[35:32] » 6 614500
right so it's basically the same however
[35:39] that 584 would pay for those four more
jailers it would pay for the two
[35:43] deputies to transport
uh as far as the people who are would be
[35:47] laid off the jail's hiring
uh cost of the vehicles if they last 5
[35:53] years each would be 30,000 a year. So
the point being we would save money. I
[35:58] know you guys aren't interested but uh
I'm just telling you we're getting
[36:03] played like a set of areas from the
state and the other regions the other
[36:07] counties in this region.
>> What about our kids in this county that
[36:10] have needs?
>> What about them?
[36:12] » I'll get to it.
>> What about the teenagers and the kids
[36:15] that have
>> Madam Chair? Do I have the floor?
[36:19] Thank you.
>> Uh let's talk about Well, I'll get to
[36:22] that. Uh the issue is
we are we are there's something called
[36:26] fixed costs. We have this building
available for the state and all these
[36:31] other counties at any time at their beck
and call. The fee we charge them in no
[36:36] way, shape, or form comes close to
compensating our fixed cost. That
[36:42] building is there 247. We're paying on
it. We have to heat it. We have to cool
[36:46] it. the staff's there. Whether there's
somebody there from another county or
[36:49] not, we should be drawing up contracts
with every county that wants to even
[36:53] think about putting something there. You
have to have a contract with us that
[36:56] pays a fixed cost fee. And you also
should then pay a fee per child. We
[37:01] should set the same kind of contract up
with the state. They love to have that
[37:05] and have that available,
but they don't want to have that
[37:08] building. They want us to have it. And
so what we're doing is the citizens of
[37:12] Grand Forks, let's just say we don't
hire the two, whatever, the county of
[37:17] Grand Forks is paying $1.32
million a year to subsidize the state of
[37:24] North Dakota and the regions in this
area. And if we want to keep this, then
[37:30] let's get on this and get this and get
some contracts written. They're they're
[37:35] killing us. They're they have this thing
available, but they're not paying
[37:39] anywhere close to what it costs to be
available. The sheriff doesn't patrol
[37:44] Trail County.
We don't do the books for Walls County.
[37:48] We don't plow for Steel County. We're
we're taking in an entire region of
[37:52] stuff and they will drop someone off
when they want for this amount of time
[37:59] and then it's done. And we still have
all those bills to have that brand new
[38:03] spanking state-of-the-art building there
ready 247 365.
[38:09] » Robin talk.
>> So I did have a meeting this morning
[38:13] about
>> contracting with the city of Grand Forks
[38:17] because the majority of the kids that we
get are coming from the police
[38:20] department to have them pay an overhead
to have the availability of having the
[38:25] center put twice. It won't be able to
look be looked at until the 2027 budget.
[38:29] Obviously, it's too late for 2026, but I
did speak with Lisa Jonner. She said
[38:35] it's difficult to do an overhead fee
when you're also charging daily rates to
[38:38] the other counties and they are paying a
daily rate. So,
[38:42] » well, I would love to look at an
overhead fee versus the daily rate then
[38:45] because
>> but the problem with that is I can't
[38:48] guarantee. So, I mean, especially with
my not potentially closing down, leaving
[38:53] us as one of the only two detention
facilities in the entire state. I got a
[38:58] phone call yesterday from Wisconsin
looking for a bed for a juvenile. No
[39:02] beds in Iowa, no beds in Minnesota, no
beds in Michigan, no beds in South
[39:06] Dakota, no beds in Illinois. Juvenile
beds are a hot commodity. They're going
[39:10] to sell and I can't guarantee beds to
people because that puts us in a
[39:14] situation where we don't have beds for
our own.
[39:18] » I'm I'm
I'm just bringing it up. Keep doing the
[39:23] way you want it. Keep writing off those
losses. Keep raising those taxes. It's
[39:27] it's try go talk to anything anybody
about fixed costs. We are we are losing
[39:31] our shirts on this and we should not be
doing this. We should not be subsidizing
[39:36] the state of North Dakota. The county
taxpayers are paying for county
[39:39] services. They're not paying for Benson
County, Trail County, Walsh County,
[39:44] state of North Dakota, etc., etc., etc.,
etc. And that's what we're doing in this
[39:47] plan. So, if you guys are happy, I still
have the floor.
[39:54] I love Robert's rules of orders. All
right, I want to get to u
[40:01] want to get to the cars in the sheriff's
department.
[40:06] Um go out here again. Uh I would like to
see a comparison between the state bid
[40:16] for the Explorer versus the towel for
the four cylinder and the six-cylinder.
[40:21] the cabin space,
the gas tank, how many gallons it holds,
[40:26] and the city highway MPG,
the cost of the individual items that
[40:32] make it, the car, the cage, all the
stuff they have to do, and the cost to
[40:37] install it, who's doing it.
Uh, I also
[40:42] » over show you.
>> All right, you get it all together and
[40:47] just flatten an email.
in paper. Thank you.
[41:02] Well, I don't I'll look through this.
I also
[41:07] I know there's going to be a
disagreement. I would like to give all
[41:10] the information concerning our leasing
program to Mr. forward and have him
[41:15] contact
a business banker
[41:20] and a CPA partner and have him analyze
those leases to see if it's better to
[41:25] lease or to buy.
>> Mr. Mullins has already talked to
[41:29] Michelle Olsen, to Debbie Nelson, to
myself and Chief Deputy Stroberg. We've
[41:32] given him all of the information. He
likes to disagree with it, even though
[41:36] all three of us keep giving him the same
stuff. If you want to do it, feel free.
[41:41] But we've already done it with him three
times. If he got to you and you want to
[41:44] share that with other people and waste
their time, feel free.
[41:47] » I will give it to Mr. Ford and the third
party can decide as far as I'm concerned
[41:52] whether it's better to buy in cash or to
pay finance charges on a vehicle.
[41:57] » I have a question. Can I ask that
question?
[41:59] » Yeah, sure.
>> So, if we're asking a third party to do
[42:01] that, do we have to pay for the third
party or do they do that for free?
[42:06] » We'll ask them.
We'll bring it back if they have a
[42:09] charge.
Now we're concerned about money.
[42:14] Interesting. Um,
>> let's keep going.
[42:18] » As far as the jail,
the jail wants the state wants all 72
[42:24] beds. Apparently, that contract is
sitting somewhere.
[42:28] I would like to be on the next agenda.
The contract for the state.
[42:35] I'd like to have Mr. sponsor and her
represent or his representative on the
[42:39] video and I want to know what we're
doing. We voted as a commission
[42:43] unanimously months ago to rent 72 beds.
I'm ready to approve the contract. I'm
[42:49] ready to approve the chair to sign it.
>> You don't have
[42:53] » That's why I want it on next meeting so
we can have one to look at. So, we've
[42:57] been waiting months for this. So, we
voted 72 beds. Let's go.
[43:02] Um,
[43:16] okay. He
[43:20] I'm not sure. I just want to follow up
on it.
[43:23] Do we owe approximately $700,000
to the builder of the sheriff's office?
[43:29] I saw in the budget I found 300,000
budgeted. So, do we is that the only
[43:35] amount we own? Are we making payments?
What? I'm not sure what's going on
[43:39] there.
>> Sure.
[43:43] » You're talking about the
>> I call the project alternates,
[43:46] » right?
>> So, there was a million dollars budgeted
[43:50] for 2025 for the sheriff's office
facility. 300,000 was set aside to pay
[43:58] the lease, waters, all that stuff for
this year. 700,000
[44:04] was set aside for project alternates.
Commission approved up to 1.31
[44:09] something million project alternates.
County Commission voted to pay 700,000
[44:15] this year in project alternates, 300,000
next year in project alternates, and the
[44:20] remaining balance plus interest, if any,
remaining balance in 2027.
[44:26] » Can we pay that early?
>> You're talking to the wrong guy.
[44:29] » Okay. Can we pay that early? We need to
find that out
[44:34] because
>> the answer is yes, but I can't tell you
[44:37] what you can and can't pay. He'll take
the payment early.
[44:40] » Okay. That's what I'm asking about.
Yeah.
[44:41] » Is there is there a no penalty? All
right. So, we should look at paying that
[44:45] off early
>> because if we got money somewhere
[44:48] collecting 3% interest and we're paying
7% interest to finance it, we're losing
[44:53] money.
[44:58] » Commission, you're talking about paying
early the alternates.
[45:02] » Pay it all off next year.
>> The entire thing.
[45:04] » Yes.
>> Okay. I And I can talk about this on the
[45:07] 5th. I asked Miss Mors to put it on the
agenda, but I did talk to Mr. Huner this
[45:10] morning. So I have I'll have
information.
[45:24] » Okay. I'm I'm not going to make too many
cuts till we'll see if this motion
[45:28] passes and I got plenty of cuts to bring
forward if it fails.
[45:34] » You done?
>> Yeah. Thank you.
[45:37] We have a motion on the floor to be
staffed by ourselves into
[45:44] I remember from 45 minutes ago.
>> All right. All those in favor?
[45:55] » Mr.
[45:58] » Yes.
>> Yes.
[46:10] You sure can. I just want to acknowledge
the program managers of the county um
[46:16] for their professionalism
and um really looking at cutting their
[46:22] costs wherever they could. There were um
minimal increases
[46:29] compared to quite a bit of decreases.
And I I um I believe or this may be a
[46:36] personal issue, but I respect their
opinions. They're professionals. They're
[46:41] trained in that subject content area.
And I just think we as a commission need
[46:47] to um be appreciative of program
managers doing the best that they can in
[46:54] making cuts and also working hard to
continue in getting contract with
[47:01] various entities so that we can continue
to make improvements and I just want to
[47:07] acknowledge that.
>> Oh uh Mr. forward. Ma'am, may I speak?
[47:11] » Go ahead.
>> Scrap that about the third party. If we
[47:14] don't care about money, we don't care
about money.
[47:17] » So, don't bother looking into it.
[47:21] » I'm sure public can decide that
[47:28] contracted services
we need to talk about that anymore. Is
[47:32] there anything else that we need to
>> Gormanfield public notice?
[47:37] » I can speak to that sound quickly. Uh at
the at the last commission meeting um
[47:42] the commission asked Mr. Magnus to send
out a notification within three miles of
[47:48] the G field
>> for the paving of the runway.
[47:52] » Yes.
>> Uh I spoke with Mr. Magnus yesterday.
[47:56] » It's just it's not feasible for him. Uh
there's no master list. He'd have to
[48:00] reach out to the post office. It would
be a pretty big expense to the county
[48:04] and it wouldn't be done in time. uh and
he would have to manually input every
[48:08] address which would take him days upon
days. Uh so with that in mind being the
[48:14] commission to direct him to do three
miles he is asking to go back to the
[48:18] standard of a onemation.
>> So we just need a motion to
[48:21] » move
second. Is there any further discussion?
[48:27] All those in favor of the motion please
say I.
[48:29] » I oppos.