County levy increase stays at 4.9 percent

The Carlton County board of commissioners gave final approval for a property tax levy increase of 4.9 percent for the 2022 budget year. The new county budget was set for $69,772,168 in expenditures, revenues of $37,966,520, use of fund balances of $1,603,123, and an actual levy sum of $30,202,525.

The vote was unanimous at this last meeting for the year of 2021 held Tuesday, Dec. 28.

Of interest in the budget for next year, fund balances of $837,942 for Road and Bridge and $950,474 for Human Services were used in those departmental budgets for the coming year. Almost $760,000 is levied in the new budget year to pay for bond redemption on borrowed money.

The Tax Forfeited Land Department continues to not depend on levy dollars to pay its staff and programs. Sales of timber from county-fee land and tax-forfeited land created revenue for 2021 of $320,000. Excess funds of about $90,000 will be divided between timber development, parks and recreation, the county general fund, affected cities or towns as well as affected school districts in a formula set by Minnesota statutes.

“Our levy increase is similar to counties in our area,” said auditor/treasurer Kevin DeVriendt. “We are in an inflationary period, pushed by the pandemic, and the extra increase comes from costs associated with the new jail/justice center.”

The county board approved being the fiscal agent for a Safe Routes to School proposal from the City of Wrenshall for the children attending the Wrenshall school. The proposal calls for an off-street sidewalk along Broadway Avenue (CSAH 1), replacing deteriorated sidewalks on Pioneer Drive, new crosswalks, and pedestrian ramps. The improvements are estimated at $168,100 and construction is scheduled for the summer of 2022. The board also approved a letter of support for the Cloquet SRTS application.

As part of the negotiations for the annexation of Twin Lakes Township land to the city of Carlton for the new jail/justice center north of the current Transportation Building, Carlton County agreed to accept 0.76 miles of Chub Lake Road, which has been a township road for 60 years. It will be known as CR 109 or the Chub Lake Park Road; the county is now responsible for all maintenance of that public road which accesses Chub Lake.

Unanimous approval was given to keep commissioner salaries at $24,212 each, per diem at $60 for in-county meetings and $75 for out-of-county meetings, and reimbursement for meals for 2022 at the same levels as 2021. Federal guidelines set the mileage rate for 2022 at 58.5 cents per mile. 2022 per diem payments for non-commissioner meetings remains the same as this year. Salaries for employees not represented by a union were increased by 3 percent.

The county board instructed county coordinator Dennis Genereau and the human resources department to develop job descriptions for the elected sheriff and the elected county attorney. Genereau felt this could be completed by February. The positions will then be rated with the same scaling method for any other county employee to determine the salaries at which the positions should be paid. At present, the county board set the sheriff’s and the county attorney’s salaries at the current-year level plus a 3-percent salary increase effective Jan. 1. The salaries of those two positions will be adjusted when job descriptions plus a rate scale process are completed in the new budget year.

All commissioners were present, but the meeting was lightly attended due to continuing snow and slippery roads.

Road fix

Carlton County will receive $400,000 from the Minnesota Department of Transportation for changes to the intersection of Minnesota Highway 210 and Carlton County Road 61, which leads to the transportation building and the future site of the Carlton County jail and justice center.

The grant will help pay for construction of a reduced-conflict intersection at the Highway 210/County Road 61 intersection, located between Carlton and Cloquet. The project will improve safety and access to a commercial area, a transit garage on the Fond du Lac Reservation and a new justice center located near the site. Total project cost is $520,000. The county will be expected to contribute 30 percent of the project cost, or $120,000.

The engineers have designed the strip with J turns for traffic control instead of a roundabout, as discussed earlier in the year. County engineer JinYeene Neumann previously explained that there isn’t enough traffic volume to call for a roundabout.

“That will make it a safer intersection,” she told the board. “That reduces the 90-degree turns.”

According to the project summary, Highway 210 has an average daily traffic count of 7,600 vehicles a day, while County Road 61 carries 2,800 vehicles a day.

The project was one of eight construction projects in various areas of the state that received a total of $18 million to improve transportation infrastructure that supports economic growth, MnDOT announced last week.

The funding comes from the state’s competitive Transportation Economic Development program.