June 10, 2021 at 1:12 p.m.
Cass to advertise for vacant county attorney position
Interviews will be Nov. 15 or 16.
A committee consisting of commissioners Dick Downham and Bob Kangas; Health, Human and Veterans Services Director Michelle Piprude; Probation Director Jim Schneider; and Administrator Joshua Stevenson recommended this process and the county board adopted it Tuesday.
The committee will conduct the interviews.
The committee will then recommend at the Nov. 21 county board meeting a candidate for the county board to appoint to succeed former county attorney Christopher Strandlie, who recently became a district court judge.
The county board also heard a report Tuesday from Chief Financial Officer Sandra Norikane on the county's financial position after three quarters of 2017 have passed.
All payments in lieu of taxes declined this year, she said. The drop in state PILT resulted from changes the state Legislature made to the way PILT is calculated, she explained. The federal PILT drop came because Congress failed to fully fund PILT payments due for 2017.
Norikane said the county has not spent any of its unassigned fund balance through the first nine months this year, despite some unplanned expenses and some ordinary expenses running higher than in an average year.
The county's severance pay costs are higher than average, because 10 employees-several of whom were longtime supervisors-retired in 2017, costing the county $234,600 severance this year.
"We don't expect that in the next few years," Norikane said.
Cass made its final payment to Crow Wing County of $216,280 this year on a 10-year payment schedule to pay for one pod in the Crow Wing jail when that facility was built.
The sheriff's department had to spend $27,600 for one new squad car that was not budgeted, because the old squad was totaled. Insurance covered that cost, Norikane said.
Improvements on County Highway 23 were moved ahead of schedule to begin this year, because receipts from the local option sales tax are coming in higher than expected, Norikane said.
Shingobee Island Sewer and Water District spent down slightly that district's user fee-created reserve fund to cover some maintenance work and some costs with connecting the new restaurant to that system, she reported. These were one-time expenses, she added. It still leaves a maintenance reserve balance.
Second publication rights after Brainerd Dispatch.[[In-content Ad]]
Comments:
You must login to comment.