Utility tax court settlements continue to affect county

According to a press release from Carlton County board of commissioners chair Dick Brenner, as of April 12 the Great Lakes Gas Transmission 2019 and Enbridge Pipelines Southern Lights Line Pollution Control

Exemption 2018 cases have been finalized and refunds due are settled. These follow settlements with four other utility entities doing business in Carlton County.

The Great Lakes refund due is between $120,000-130,000 and the Enbridge exemption for 2018 refunds is $70,125. The impact will be shared by the county, affected townships, affected school districts, and the state of Minnesota.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, according to the press release and previous Pine Knot News stories.

Cases pending in Minnesota Tax Court and the decisions are being appealed include the following:

Enbridge Energy for 2012-2014: Estimated refund of $2.5 million with $1.1 million from Carlton County, $200,000 from the affected townships, $400,000 from the affected school districts and $700,000 from the state of Minnesota.

Northern Natural Gas for 2015-16: Estimated refund is approximately $600,000 with $240,000 from the county, $50,000 from the affected townships, $100,000 from the affected school districts, and $210,000 from the state of Minnesota.

Of greater concern, according to the press release, are other even more expensive cases.

“With these cases, it should be noted that still to be addressed is the 2015-2019 for Enbridge and 2017- 2019 for Northern Natural Gas, with additional refunds likely in the $6.5 million to $9 million range. Tax court cases for these years have been filed but are being stayed while the original cases are finalized, after which they will be addressed. It is possible that they will settle based upon the original cases.”

A long-term concern is the probable 25 percent reduction of the value of the utilities operating in Carlton County, which could cause an approximate shift of 7 to 9 percent or more for the county portion of a property tax levy, and a tax shift of 25 to 45 percent on the affected townships and school districts in their property tax levy. In other words, a 25 percent reduction of the taxable value of our area utilities would shift the payment of the property tax bill to the rest of the taxpayers in Carlton County, meaning its residents and other businesses. The reduction of value for taxing purposes on Enbridge and Northern Natural Gas will impact Perch Lake, Sawyer, Twin Lakes and Silver Brook Township residents the most.

If the court appeals are again decided in favor of the utility companies, it appears that the state legislature and, ironically, Enbridge, could possibly bring relief to taxpayers.

It is still hoped that the Legislature will step in with financial help.

Also, once the Enbridge Line 3 reconstruction is running, it would add taxable value to the communities in which it is located.

Rep. Mike Sundin said bills are moving along in the state legislature and he is hoping to get financial help to help resolve the burden on Carlton County taxpayers.

“We have a way to go to get the job done,” Sundin said.

The press release concludes with these words: “It is also very important to understand the unresolved cases include two of the largest taxpayers in Carlton County, and that the tax impacts are likely to be the most significant to date.”

County attorney to draft ordinance on e-cigarettes

Carlton County commissioners took action or debated several items at their April 9 regular meeting:

• County attorney Lauri Ketola asked for board input on parameters of a new ordinance for restricting the sale of tobacco and e-cigarettes to people under the age of 21. She proposed enforcing the ban on local retailers and requirements to post the legal guidelines at each place of business. She proposed putting the burden on the seller to monitor sales correctly.

“We are talking about restricting the sale of tobacco and e-cigarettes to 18-20-year-old young adults,” commissioner Tom Proulx pointed out. “We do not need to fill the court system with young adults in trouble for an illegal purchase.”

Ketola reinforced that concern by saying that there is no benefit to criminalizing tobacco purchases by these young adults. The board directed her to craft a new ordinance on the matter.

• The county board approved the purchase of Karpel Solutions software for the county attorney’s office, with $58,000 coming from the county attorney’s budget and the rest of the $70,000-plus coming from general fund balances. The transfer to the new Karpel system will be completed by the end of this fiscal year.

• The board approved a tobacco license to Kwik Spirits (formerly known as Gramma Polo’s Bottle Shoppe) in Scanlon.

• Transportation bids for supplies and contracted annual work came in, with road salt rising to 96 cents and gravel crushing prices per yard or ton about the same as last year.