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WALKER - Unless requested by the county board later this fall to do more, the citizen budget committee concluded its work on the 2014 budget and Tuesday received approval for some final recommendations.

The county board voted Tuesday to accept the budget committee's recommendation to set money for the county's five family centers at $75,000, with another $25,000 to be set aside for related special projects. The $75,000 is comparable 2013 family center allocation.

The board also approved the committee's recommendation to keep the miscellaneous services budget at the 2013 level. This is the county's contribution to several agencies.

Those agencies and amounts include Cass County Economic Development Corporation (EDC), $42,500; Central Minnesota Initiative Foundation, $17,000; Working Together Coalition, $7,000; Cass County Housing and Redevelopment Authority, $6,750; Cass County Historical Society, Pillager Fair, Pine River Fair, $5,000 each; and Mississippi Headwaters Board, $1,500.

Remaining for the board to decide later is whether the county should increase its contribution to Cass EDC in a new three-year contract by $5,000, to increase its contribution to the Initiative Foundation by $650 or whether to pay membership in Minnesota Rural Counties Caucus at $4,000.

The board approved a $919 increase for Kitchigami Library services to pay the full amount requested at $342,336. Marian Ridge, Kitchigami Library director, has advised the board Bookmobile services will be phased out by the end of 2014, with new outreach services to be tried during the year.

The 2014 budget now expects the county will receive $20,046,613 from property taxes, $29,639,397 from other sources and $815,069 from state program aid to counties for $50,501,079 total revenue.

Of the $50,501,079 for the budget, proposes spending $50,112,612 for operations, but dropped the anticipated remaining contingency fund from $388,467 to $254,467 after it was learned employee insurance costs will rise in 2014 by $134,000.

This contingency is less than half the $727,992 contingency the county had to start 2013. It is set aside for expenses the county can incur beyond those approved prior to the beginning of each year or for requests the county decides to wait to consider after a new year starts.

The commissioners declined Tuesday to accept an invitation to join Northern Counties Land Use Coordinating Board for $2,500 per year. That is a lobbying group comprised of the counties of Aitkin, Cook, Koochaching, Lake, Lake of the Woods, Pennington, Roseau and St. Louis.

Tuesday, the board set 2014 rates for the employee health insurance program. Cass has a self-insurance fund, which Blue Cross/Blue Shield administers. Costs for the program include claims against the fund, administration costs and costs for reinsurance.

The self-insurance fund pays about $4 million per year for those expenses. It also carries an ongoing balance of about $4 or equivalent of one year's expenses. The balance is held to carry cash flows during the year and, if the program ever were discontinued, it would pay claims until the program is dissolved, according to Administrator Robert Yochum.

The health insurance premiums the board approved Tuesday call for the county to pay 7.2 percent more per month for each employee's health insurance, increasing those monthly costs from $944 per employee, per month to $1,012.

Employees can choose from deductible plans of $500, $1,500, $2,500 or $3,200. Employees with a single person health plan do not have to pay an additional contribution. Those with a family plan will pay between $509.56 and $661.56 additional beyond the county contribution for their plan, depending on the coverage level. Those costs for family plan employees will rise between 10 and 41 percent in 2014.

Cass has been insuring an average of 385 employees during 2013.

Second publication rights after Brainerd Dispatch.

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