Bill proposed by Rep. Tom Anzelc allows counties to decide on funding uses

Koochiching County commissioners voiced support for a bill that Rep. Tom Anzelc said he will author to improve funding for social services, public health and corrections in all Minnesota counties.

Anzelc and Sen. Tom Saxhaug met Tuesday with the county board to discuss priorities for the 2009 legislative session, which begins Jan. 6.

Anzelc told commissioners that he will propose a formula that would combine the three programs. The bill would also create a block grant for counties to use to fund the departments.

The block grant would take the decision making away from the “one-size-fits all” legislators, said Anzelc. The block grant would allow county boards in Minnesota to make decisions about state funding based on the values and needs of the individual county.

“The state trusts the county boards to provide services, but (the boards) should have the authority to make decisions,” Anzelc said.

Anzelc said a similar bill was proposed at the Minnesota Legislature in the 1970s, but failed due to a lack of consensus and direction from the Association of Minnesota Counties.

Commissioner Chuck Lepper said the block grant idea is a priority of Arrowhead region counties and the proposed bill is “right on target.”

But Anzelc told the commissioners that he expects the bill to be “controversial.” Opposition will likely come from advocacy groups. Anzelc expects the 11 metro counties to oppose the bill because it will not benefit them. He also said liberal Democrats may be opposed to it because it would force a “relinquishing of control.”

Anzelc said he plans to build a coalition of support for the bill with Democrats representing rural Minnesota and Republican House members.

Commissioner Kallie Briggs noted that a coalition already exists with representatives from rural communities in Minnesota.

Saxhaug called a projected budget deficit of $2 billion to $4 billion an “extraordinary situation.”

The state doesn’t have enough in its reserve funding to cover the deficit and it can’t raise taxes, he said.

With a lack of new funding resources, the state needs to find “smarter, better, more efficient ways to spend the existing resources,” Anzelc said. In a time of declining resources, he said he doesn’t see an alternative to his proposed bill for block grants.

Commissioner Wade Pavleck said the state has increased the number of mandated services the county must provide while decreasing its funding. The state then imposed a levy limit on counties, he said.

Pavleck said the state needs to find a different way to deliver court, social and correction services. Lepper echoed Pavleck, saying counties will not able to provide the services because of a lack of state funding.

Anzelc said Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s recommendations allow the Legislature to pass responsibilities onto the county boards and Minnesota “needs a governor who isn’t going to do that.”

Pavleck said he was also concerned with the rising costs of other services, including out-of-home placements. Koochiching County pays about $130,000 a month in out-of-home placements, which it has no control over, he said.

“The costs escalated so rapidly, we can’t get a handle on it,” Pavleck said. If the costs continue to rise “it could break us,” he said.

Other priorities discussed with the state representatives include:

• Funding for the county’s proposed plasma gasification project, which would use a plasma arc to vaporize about 100 tons of garbage a day from northern Minnesota and possibly Ontario. Commissioner Mike Hanson said the project could fit in with federal infrastructure funding and the green energy plans of President-elect Barack Obama. Hanson added that he hopes in six months the project is ready enough, or to “put enough lipstick on the pig to make it look good,” to be considered for federal funding.

Lepper added that the amount of funding the project has already received without a feasibility study being completed “tells me that the environment is right for this project.”

• Funding for a proposed sewer project which will extend sewer east along Rainy Lake to Voyageurs National Park. Pavleck said indications at the federal level are that an influx of funding for infrastructure projects should be expected in Obama’s administration and Koochiching County is “making every effort to get it moving” to be able to receive funding.

Koochiching County Board news notes
• The Koochiching County Board agreed to allow the Koochiching Soil and Water Conservation District to implement the Wetlands Conservation Act in the city of Ranier, as long as SWCD was willing to complete the work. The issue was brought to the attention of the Ranier City Council due to recent wetland violations within its city limits.

Commissioners questioned whether Ranier wanted to apply for a grant from the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources, similar to International Falls, to implement WCA within its city limits. Environmental Services Director Richard Lehtinen said Ranier is different in that International Falls adopted WCA 14 years ago, causing it to implement it on its own. Ranier indicated it would like the county to implement WCA because the city would have to hire someone who is trained in wetland determinations and the paperwork associated with WCA, Lehtinen said.

• The board hired consultant Randy Cervenik of the Costin Group Inc. to find funding for a new sewer project, which will be called the Rainy Lake basin sewer project. The proposed project would extend sewer from Tilson Bay east to Voyageurs National Park. Lehtinen said staff at Benchmark Engineering, which completed the county’s Jackfish Bay sewer project, expressed concern that it was not contacted to submit a proposal for its lobbyist.

The board agreed to seek proposals for the engineering design of the project. Commissioners said that while Benchmark did an “outstanding” job on the Jackfish Bay project, the county must give all companies a chance to make a bid for the new project.

• The county board set a public hearing on a road vacation requested by Joe Jessop for 11 a.m. Jan 27. Jessop has requested the county vacate a portion of Pine Street and all of Spruce Street, Second Avenue and Third Avenue in Ray.

• The board approved two temporary hires in the Public Health Department.

The first hire was a home health aide for the Northome area. Home health aides have been traveling to Northome from International Falls for existing home health care clients, causing Public Health Director Susan Congrave to be concerned about the safety of driving in winter conditions and the travel costs.

The board also approved the temporary hire of a licensed practical nurse for a private client in 2009. Congrave had requested a part-time employee to be hired to fill in for an employee on leave, but due to the county’s hiring freeze, commissioners agreed to hire a temporary employee.

• The board heard that Community Services Director Terry Murray would like to consider contracting with Friends Against Abuse to provide supervised visitations between parents and children after learning last week that the organization is in need of funding. The contract would free up the time of case aid workers and social workers, while providing funding to Friends Against Abuse, Murray said.

• The board will remind county department supervisors that, due to the number of departments that went over budget in 2007, supervisors are not allowed to exceed their budget unless they have the approval of the county board. Department supervisors have been given two choices by the board if they exceed their budget: Cut the amount in the budget or reduce it from next year’s budget if it cannot be cut; or the supervisor needs to deal with the outside factor that is causing the supervisor goes over budget. A second infraction could be considered a performance issue.

• The board approved in a 4-0 vote a joint powers agreement with the state of Minnesota to receive 3 cents for every ballot counted in Koochiching County during the Senate recount, for a total of $205. Commissioner Chuck Lepper was absent for the vote.