County Board: Overhaul of road agreements proposed

After a lapse of around 40 years, the Carlton County highway maintenance department is proposing a new, written agreement with those Carlton County townships that use the county to grade and plow their roads. County engineer JinYeene Neumann is encouraging the townships to provide input on any changes needed. She plans to present the proposed maintenance agreement at the spring Carlton County Association of Township Officers meeting on April 26.

"We are open to any suggestions from the townships before the final format of the agreement is approved by the county board," Neumann told the Carlton County board of commissioners at its meeting Tuesday, April 5.

According to Neumann, there are only a few Minnesota counties that have the county equipment grade and plow township roads. Carlton County is one. St. Louis County, quoting township sources around Floodwood, also provides grading and plowing at a set yearly fee.

The Carlton County transportation department fee for the culverts, equipment rental, etc. continues to rise. Neumann pointed out that the rate the county was charging townships for road work was lower than for other entities the county does work for. Township officials will continue to see a rise in the rate the county charges for their work until there is parity with the county's yearly rate. The county's rate is reassessed each budget year.

Once the agreement is finalized, each township will be contacted in alphabetical order for two meetings. One meeting on the phrasing of the agreement will be at the transportation offices and the next one will be at the next township board meeting.

Assessment questions

County assessor Kyle Holmes reported that the yearly mandated Board of Review meetings have been heavily attended so far. The Board of Review meeting in Thomson Township he attended recently had 50 to 60 people there asking questions.

The property valuation notices that are being sent out - showing an increase in value for almost all homes of 30 to 35 percent - have fired up the public and led to increased attendance. Holmes said that these increases in property values have made property owners fear that their tax bill will rise that much.

Unless the property owner has improved the property substantially or built new, the tax impact should remain about the same for most property owners, Holmes said. The assessor said the only increase to the tax bill is if the county, school districts, cities, townships, etc. increase the money they need to levy for their needs.

County commissioners set two meetings to review property valuations for property owners who attended their local Board of Review meeting. The meetings are at 3:30 p.m. June 14 and 2 p.m. June 27 at the county transportation building.

"Because of all the interest," Holmes said, "we may need another meeting in June to handle assessment concerns. Increases in property values have come from a shortage of homes in the area. Just in the last two weeks the Realtors MLS has only 12 homes listed for sale while normally there are 100-plus listings in the spring."

Holmes also gave his yearly report on the county's fleet of vehicles. Historically, the county-owned vehicles travel between 140,000 and 160,000 miles yearly.

The use of rental vehicles means the county owns only two newer cars, bought before the rental company system came in. In time, those two vehicles will also be replaced by rental units.

Holmes explained it was more expensive to buy into a rental agreement with the company, but there are savings in major repairs and costs associated with labor provided by the transportation department. Vehicles will be rotated every three years to have the most dependable and gas efficient vehicles for county use.

Future county planning reflects electric cars being used regularly. The new justice center complex will have five charging stations set for public or county use.