The Polk County Board of Commissioners met on Tuesday morning at the Polk County Government Center.
HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT-RICHARD SANDERS
The board first heard from County Engineers Richard Sanders on multiple quotes to furnish a Single Axle Diesel Truck -Sign Body, the final piece of equipment they needed for the year. The lowest responsible quote for the truck to be built and delivered to the county by January 1, 2023, was from Berts Truck Equipment of Moorhead for $148,520. The board approved the motion unanimously.
PUBLIC HEALTH-SARAH REESE
The board then heard from Public Health Director Sarah Reese on a motion for them to increase the Fee Schedule for Tdap and Hep B vaccines the department offered to $60, with a motion that no one can be turned away for inability to pay. “Public Health offers a variety of different services, whether its footcare, flu shots, or COVID vaccines, but we also offer Tdap and Hep B vaccines. So, if people want to get that, we requested an increase to our fee schedule simply because our cost to attain the vaccine has increased significantly. So we requested that the Fee Schedule be moved to $60, which is the suggested donation. Because of how we received the vaccine, if individuals are unable to pay, we ask that they pay what they can.” Reese explained that the fee schedule increasing only covers the cost of the vaccine to keep it available and not the nurse’s time and charting and keep them available to people that wish to get it and if a patient is unable to pay the fee for the vaccine, they wouldn’t be turned away from getting it for that reason. The board approved the motion unanimously.
NW MN MULTI-COUNTY HRA-CHARITY BRAULT
The board heard from Northwest Minnesota Multi-County Housing & Redevelopment Authority Executive Director Charity Brault on a review of the levy for the HRA. She reported that they had received a Minnesota Housing grant earlier in the year and was awarded a total of $394,450 with a total levy loan of $24,000. They were spending the grant on 17 multi-family units, eight duplexes, and two single-family rentals, but they were reviewing the application for one more single-family rental. Brault reported that in July 2021, their Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program had helped over 800 families and gave 6,458 vouchers up until last June for a total of $3,166,881. She reported that the levy extension would be due in 2023 and asked for the board’s support for a 10-year extension in the 2023 legislative season to extend the levy authority through 2033, but she also gave them the option for five years. The board chose to support the 10-year extension unanimously.
ADMINISTRATION-CHUCK WHITING
The board finished the meeting hearing from County Administrator Chuck Whiting, who had an update on the ARPA Agreement with the Crookston Rotary Club and the University of Minnesota Crookston. He reported that the agreement was ready for the meeting, which will allocate $149,000 to UMC with the Crookston Rotary Club acting as an intermediary for adult education and training tuition focusing on career pathways in healthcare, education, agriculture, and business/manufacturing in rural areas. This agreement will cover 16 student tuition equivalents, one part-time position, and associated marketing and administrative costs. The board approved the agreement unanimously.
2023 Budget Status
Whiting finished the meeting by reporting the status of the county’s budget for 2023. He said he wanted to ensure everything was properly identified for the year, but that meant making sure that everything was properly identified from last year. They were currently $722,565 over their balance, with a total of $6,814,654 on the year so far. However, while he had already looked over a few departments, he still had a few department budgets that had to be discussed and revised to ensure they just got their capital items. Whiting said they were also still waiting on the results of their Market Study to see what the wages are for each department and how much of an addition that would be to the budget along with other items. “In the end, I think the issues are going to come down to what they usually come down to. There’s going to be some capital expenses, and we’ll have to make some decisions in the short and long term,” Whiting explained. “We’re certainly up against recruitment and retention for employees like everybody else is and the issues that we can’t control, like fuel prices and utilities. So we’re factoring it all in, and we’ll come together by the end of this month, and we’ll have a pretty good picture of where we’re at for next year.” Whiting reminded the board that they had set the preliminary levy at a 5.5% increase from the 2022 County budget and that while they don’t want to be at that level, it has given him a target for the budget to start with.
The Board of Commissioners will next meet on Tuesday, October 18, at the Polk County Government Center.
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