Local News

Wednesday, December 12, 2007 Todd County Board of Commissioners Board hears from taxpayers By Karin L. Nauber The county Truth in Taxation meeting was held on December 6. The meeting began with a viewing of the video about the 14 reasons your property taxes go up and down. There are 20 property classifications in Minnesota which makes it probably the most complicated in the nation. Basically, if your market value went up, so did your taxes. The county tax rate did go down 4%. Auditor/Treasurer Karen Busch explained this was partly because the tax capacity rose for 2008. Part of the crowd left after an explanation was given about a mistake on the tax statements for the Sauk River Watershed. Even though values won't be changed at this time, Busch said that the assessor's office can explain to citizens why their values went up. Many of the citizens present were concerned about the value increases on their properties even though no improvements had been made. One citizen said their market value went up 31% and their taxes went up 75% on one 80 acre section. Citizen Roger Dukowitz explained a little about the equalization meetings that are held in April. "But what we want to talk about tonight is why you are spending so much," said Dukowitz to the commissioners. His comment elicited a chuckle, but not much of an answer about spending. Citizens did ask why specific departments went up in their budget. Chair Mark Blessing said that fuel and salaries accounted for a lot of the increases. The budget is increasing approximately $700,000. The board responded to questions about rising budgets for the coroner, MIS department, emergency services, weed and planning and zoning and the ditch inspector among other things. Dukowitz asked if he could make some comments. He said that the violations in planning and zoning didn't happen overnight. He also said that more and more controversy was rising on rural housing. He said he was giving the board a different way to look at things and maybe they should allow the taxpayers to regulate themselves. "I don't see why you keep raising the county taxes year after year to govern the same amount of people. People should be responsible for themselves. No matter how much money you spend, you won't solve all the problems," said Dukowitz. Another man commented that he didn't mind paying his fair share of the taxes, but just because the legislature says the county can spend the money doesn't mean they have to and that they should look at what people are bringing in and make good use of what they have. "We could all do a lot better with a lot less," he said. Many commented about the ditch inspector and if the need for the inspector was really there. Busch said that all of the ditch inspector salary gets assessed against the ditch being worked on. Another citizen said, "The GIS maps are great, but how many people do you need to make maps once the maps are all done?" Another observed, "People in this county are aging. If you continue to increase the budget they won't be able to keep up. You can't keep raising the budget." Blessing said that cutting services would occur if they didn't raise the budget. "It is easier to start now than five years from now," said the citizen. Dukowitz said that the people who really have it hard are the young couples with kids who are making $12 to $15 an hour and don't have enough money to pay their light bills. "As far as the county board and government goes, spend less money. Only 25% of the people in the county are working," said Dukowitz. A woman who had worked in social services said that the bulk of the money they spend is spent on those who are not "home grown." She said the majority is spent on people who have moved here from outside the area. "Very little is spent on 'home grown' people. I have seen it in the 22 years I have worked there," she said. Another person asked if illegal immigrants get money from social services. The meeting was only about an hour and a half long.