County budget braced for state funding cuts
Board approves small levy increase
by Mark Nicklawske
Regional Editor
The Washington County Board voted 3-2 to approve a 1.94 percent property tax levy increase, which includes a 1-percent increase to fund a voter-approved Land and Water Legacy Program, at its Dec. 15 regular meeting. Despite the levy increase, officials said the county portion of most residential property tax bills will decrease due to a decline in area property values.
County residents have seen the value of their homes decrease an average of 7-percent in the last year. Home values are used as a basis for setting property tax collection rates.
Under the new budget plan, a home valued at $250,000 – down from $268,000 in 2009 – will pay $656 or $14 less to the county in 2010. The payment is a 2.1 percent decrease from 2009.
County Board Chairwoman Myra Peterson said the county was hit hard in 2009 with state funding cuts and she expected budget hits in 2010. She said it is not time to begin further budget cuts.
“With the additional cuts at the state level I think we’re going to need every dime we can get,” she said. “It’s going to be a rough couple of years and we’re going to be hard pressed to fund these services.”
Peterson said the state has piled numerous unfunded mandates on the county and then, through unallotment, cut program funding in 2009.
The county has eliminated 27 full-time positions and instituted a variety of cost cutting measures for 2010 savings. The cuts include:
• A new Public Works Department energy management system and cross-training staff;
• Accounting and finance staff reductions of 6-percent;
• Reduced library hours at four branch locations;
• Chemical Health Service reductions of $250,000;
But District 2 Commissioner Bill Pulkrabek said the county could make more cuts.
“Now is not the time to raise people’s property taxes,” he said. “We should be doing exactly the opposite, we should be giving back.”
Earlier this month, Pulkrabek presented the board with a plan to cut an additional $830,000 from its budget. The plan was rejected by the board.
Pulkrabek said the county needed to begin its open space preservation program but the move should not increase the county levy.
The county levy includes $850,000 for a $10 million Land and Water Legacy bond payment. The bonding money will be used to purchase and preserve open space in environmentally sensitive areas throughout the county.
“My vote against the levy is not a vote against the Land and Water Legacy program,” he said. “I support cuts in the budget to get the budget below the 1-percent.”
District 3 Commissioner Gary Kriesel said the budget includes more than $5.5 million in state funding which may never make it into the county coffers.
“We’re coming in for a hard landing,” he said. “We’re going to have serious challenges going into next year.”
Kriesel said the county already has the second lowest tax rate and per capita spending in the metro area. He said further budget cuts would put the county in a “free fall” and act like a “sledgehammer to our core and essential services.”
Peterson, Kriesel and District 1 Commissioner Dennis Hegberg voted in favor of the 2010 property tax levy. Pulkrabek and District 5 Commissioner Lisa Weik voted against the plan.
Clash of the Washington County Commissioners
I saw this article and thought it would be a good thing to share with everyone. Most of our focus is usually state and nationwide, but we need to focus on our own county as well!
Washington County Commisioners clash over late spending-cut proposal
Pulkrabek proposes $834,000 in cuts
by Mark Nicklawske
Regional Editor
District 2 Commissioner Bill Pulkrabek proposed slashing $843,000 from the 2010 Washington County budget during the Dec. 1 meeting. The proposal amounted to almost a 10 percent cut in the county property tax levy, currently set at $85.9 million.
The eight-point Pulkrabek plan found almost no board support and led to several heated exchanges with District 3 Commissioner Gary Kriesel.
Included on the list, Pulkrabek called for the county to end its financial support of the Historic Courthouse, the Workforce Center and the Meals on Wheels program. He recommended the county bill more for assessment services and multiple chemical dependency treatments.
“This is grossly unfair,” said Kriesel. “You’re doing a disservice to the department heads who are responsible for this budget.”
Kriesel criticized Pulkrabek for presenting the plan late in the budget process and accused him of missing four of nine budget workshop hearings earlier in the year.
–Pulkrabek said he proposed the plan to keep county spending down.
“I’m not going to support a budget that’s $1 more than last year,” he said.
The county levy is 1 percent higher than the 2009 levy. But a plan to include principal and interest payments on new bonding for a voter-approved Land and Water Legacy program could push the levy higher.
Pulkrabek accused Kriesel of “rubber-stamping” staff recommendations and said the board lacked the political will to proceed with the cuts.
District 5 Commissioner Lisa Weik said the Pulkrabek plan was arbitrary and last-minute. She said she would have liked to see the plan earlier in the process.Board Chair Myra Peterson agreed.
“That’s why we have a process,” she said. “You need to bring this to the table during the process.”
Pulkrabek said county staff should have enough time to deal with the cuts. He said the county will have one week to deal with citizen input following a Dec. 8 public hearing.
The board took no action on any of the Pulkrabek proposals.
Mark Nicklawske can be reached at news@presspub s.com or 651-407-1231.
Ben Bernanke Named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year
What a joke! Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, was just named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year. Bernanke ‘knows the economy would be much, much worse if the Fed had not taken such extreme measures to stop the panic,’ Time said in its cover story on the central bank head. The magazine also noted he had greatly expanded the Fed’s power through his efforts to fight the financial crisis.
Yet, instead of criticizing him for increasing the power of such a secretive agency, and his involvement in the recent bailouts, they make him a hero. I believe this decision was made by Time Magazine in order to boost Bernanke’s image now that disapproval of the Federal Reserve is at an all time high. One poll by Rasmussen Reports this month showed public support for Bernanke’s nomination at a scant 21 percent, with 41 percent stating opposition, but he continues to enjoy support on Wall Street and among many lawmakers (I wonder why?).
The Senate is considering Bernanke’s nomination to a second term to head the Fed – the U.S. central bank – and while he is expected to win confirmation, criticism of the Fed among the public and members of Congress is at its highest in decades, and understandably so after everything that has happened over the past year. Again, I believe the timing of this couldn’t have been more well planned by the powers that be.
The Fed’s role in bailouts of Wall Street has prompted criticism from both Republicans and Democrats. Lawmakers, such as Rep. Ron Paul, are pushing proposals to curb the Fed’s regulatory powers and open up its interest rate decision to congressional audits. Michele Bachmann, from our own Congressional District 6, is in support of auditing the Fed. There is even an Audit the Fed/End the Fed group that meets here in the Twin Cities. You can join them on MeetUp, Twitter or Facebook
Rep. Ron Paul’s book End the Fed is now available as well. I highly recommend it and believe it should be required reading for all conservatives. Hear Ron Paul’s thoughts on Bernanke and Time Magazine below:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJDmBhbwL-c&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1]