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A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
Thomson Township resident meetings have drawn crowds recently, as seen here Tuesday, as discussions continued about paying off a $400,000 loan that had slipped under the town board's radar during the annual meeting and levy setting in March.
The Thomson Township board of supervisors followed the recommendation of both residents and an auditor when it voted to pay off a $400,000 loan in its entirety at its meeting Sept. 5. In turn, that vote led to a much less rambunctious adjourned annual meeting Tuesday, Sept. 10, when residents came together a second time for a final vote on next year's tax levy.
Normally a quick meeting with just a final vote on the levy, last month's adjourned annual meeting was contentious following news from board chairwoman Ruth Janke of an error in the preliminary tax levy that residents approved in March. Township officials had failed to plan for or include payments to cover a $400,000 certificate of indebtedness executed on March 29, two weeks after the annual meeting when residents approved a 3-percent tax levy increase.
Board members and township staff didn't realize the error until the Carlton County auditor/treasurer sent a letter reiterating state law requiring the township to levy the minimum amount required by the bond contracts for any new or existing debt service levies, shortly before the adjourned meeting Aug. 20.
At the August meeting, Janke told residents the board would likely use some of the township's financial reserves to make the $93,000 debt payment for 2025, and pay the next four years from the tax levy. But residents at the adjourned annual meeting - a meeting for residents, not the board - objected repeatedly.
Resident Ole Larson suggested then that township officials pay off the entire debt and the vast majority of the crowd agreed with him. In the end, the residents voted by a large majority last month to advise (because they couldn't legally force them to do it) the board to pay off the entire debt. After passing three other advisory motions, the August meeting was then adjourned until Tuesday so the town board could take action on the debt at its Sept. 5 meeting. That's when the board voted unanimously to pay off the $400,000 plus any accrued interest and fees before Nov. 30.
Carlton County's most populated township had the funds to do it. Auditors from Abdo, an accounting and consulting firm based in Edina and hired this summer, pointed out in July and again last week that the township had a 200-percent surplus in its general fund. The general recommendation is to keep a surplus of 35- to 50 percent of the operating budget in the general fund.
After minimal discussion Tuesday, residents voted 25 to 6 to approve the 2025 tax levy at $1.86 million - an increase of 3 percent from 2024 - and the same number they'd approved in March. Nathan Barta, a candidate for township supervisor Seat C, acted as moderator.
Afterward, Larson said he was happy with the board's decision to pay off the loan, but he'd rather see the 1-percent levy increase he argued for in March.
"I'd also like to see more transparency," he said.
Following the meeting, longtime supervisor Terry Hill said he was glad the certificate of indebtedness was paid off, but pointed out the money could have gone toward planning and design of a needed public works facility.
"We're gonna have to find the funds for that elsewhere," he said.
In another matter, the board expects to approve the hire of Beth Elstad as the new township clerk/treasurer at its next meeting at 5 p.m. Sept. 19.
