Cass County Board: Annual Auditor-Treasurer report presented to Board

   WALKER — Cass County Chief Financial Officer Sandra Norikane presented her annual Auditor-Treasurer Department report for 2022 at the Tuesday, Feb. 7, Cass County Board meeting. 

   Norikane began her report by mentioning phone calls continue to fluctuate with more calls received in conjunction with truth-in-taxation notices and property tax statements. There was hope that there would be a decrease in mail, but the count remains high due to mainly to the mailing of 1099-G’s for the relief grant activity along with 2022 being an election year. In 2022, the county saw an increase in tax statements from 39,843 to 40,146 that were mailed to taxpayers, with 2,990 late notice reminders being mailed in early December in hopes of collecting before balances became delinquent. The increase is believed to be due to owners requesting additional statements to be mailed to multiple family members for the same property along with parcels being divided.

   Cass County again held it’s annual land sale the second Saturday of June, which included 38 parcels being auctioned off with 15 parcels being sold with a value over $470,000. The county also sold another 15 parcels during the year, which were sold over the counter at the land department office. Norikane mentioned with only two Wilderness park lots currently being available and two of the 24 parcels forfeited the county’s year-end forfeited tax settlement will be less than the prior two years. 

   Norikane also informed the board of the new procedures being taken regarding parcel valuations in hopes of explaining increases on property taxes better. The department tested a small sample of parcels using various property classifications in order to determine potential impacts to the valuation increases. The results of this study immediately showed that the tax burden was shifted from commercial to residential along with some citizens loosing their homestead credit  and some parcels being pushed into new tiers of taxation.

   Norikane stated the issuance of licenses and vital records remained largely consistent with prior years. However, there still remains an increase in death certificates in 2022 compared to 2021. Also, there was a decrease in liquor licenses issued which can possibly be attributed to two businesses choosing not to renew along with the City of Boy River resuming the management of their jurisdiction.

   The 2021 audit was performed remotely again and had a much quicker turn around time than previous years. This was due to making the Cass County Housing and Redevelopment Authority’s board aware of their impact on the County’s audit. For the second year in a row, it was reported there were no significant findings during the audit.

   With the unpredictable market swings the County is aiming to invest in CDs and US Agencies offering the highest stated interest rate at the time of purchase. Norikane also mentioned the County is now required to report investments at fair value within the audit and report what actual cash would be on hand if forced to sell at year-end. Therefore, the County will be required to report an unrealized loss of $5 million on $78 million of holdings at the end of 2022. However, the County will be able to hold the marketable securities to maturity without loss or without the need to liquidate early and actual earned interest will exceed the County’s budget expectations, Norikane stated.

   Norikane also presented the 2023 Cass County newsletter for approval to be distributed with property tax statements. The board unanimously approved the newsletter.