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Beltrami County commissioners are set to approve Tuesday a 2011 property tax levy that is 0.43 percent less than this year's levy. Approval of the property tax levy of $16.9 million and the $54.2 million budget it fuels are part of the County Board's 5 p.m. regular agenda when it meets at the County Administration Building, 701 Minnesota Ave. The levy includes $15.16 million for regular levies for general revenue, human services and road and bridge.
Relocating the Beltrami County Natural Resource Management Department with the County Highway Department is one of several options county commissioners will consider Tuesday. Bemidji architect Mike Johnston gave commissioners four options in a presentation he made Nov. 30. Commissioners will ponder those options as part of their regular 5 p.m. meeting Tuesday at the County Administration Building. Beltrami County's lease with the Lakeside Service Center, where NRM is now located, ends Dec.
Minnesota manufacturers may be turning the corner from the Great Recession, but recovery will still take years, says a Minnesota Chamber official. Manufacturing exports posted sales of $4.3 billion for the second quarter of 2010, up 19 percent over the same quarter in 2009 and approaching the sales level of 2008, Kathi Schaff, director of partnerships and business development for the Minnesota Chamber, said Thursday. But Minnesota manufacturers, while creating 8,700 jobs since September 2009, have lost 100,000 jobs since 2000.
Deciding the governor's race paves the way for Gov.-elect Mark Dayton to enroll Minnesota into an early Medicaid program, saving millions of dollars for the Bemidji hospital, says Rep. John Persell. "Our hospitals in greater Minnesota have been hurting and these funds will help," Persell, DFL-Bemidji, said Monday. "We are talking about real money into our hospital and the result will be jobs at a time when jobs are our top priority." But it will take time to implement. Current Republican Gov.
The Association of Minnesota Counties' biggest job, after several missteps last spring, is to unify, says Beltrami County Commissioner Joe Vene. "The most important priority for AMC is to unify our association as never before," says Vene, who Wednesday was elected as second vice president of the state association of counties. "My focus will be to strengthen our county partnerships throughout the state through communication, collaboration, education, and above all, respect," Vene said.
The Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians hopes to provide emergency cash assistance to eligible band members starting Jan.
Beltrami County commissioners held a public hearing on its $54.18 million 2011 budget plan Tuesday night, but nobody came. Maybe it was the subzero wind chill, or the blizzard-like snow drifting that kept people away. Commissioners, however, like to think it was the 0.43 percent property tax decrease that kept satisfied taxpayers at home.
Democrat gubernatorial candidate Mark Dayton netted one additional Beltrami County vote in a recount of ballots Monday. The recount results also had two challenged ballots for Republican Tom Emmer that will be decided by the State Canvassing Board in St. Paul next week. The recount, which began at 9 a.m. and concluded at 2 p.m., had counting or machine errors giving two votes to Dayton and taking one away from Emmer, and two votes for Emmer which were decided by County Auditor/Treasurer Kay Mack.
Public hearings on Beltrami County's 2011 budget and Capital Improvement Program will be held Tuesday. The budget hearing, required by law as a "truth in taxation" hearing, is 6 p.m. at the County Administration Building, 701 Minnesota Ave. The CIP public hearing will be held as part of the board's regular 5 p.m. meeting. The 2011 budget calls for a property tax levy of $16.9 million, or $73,513 less than this year's levy, a 0.43 percent decrease. The biggest decrease among regular levies is in road and bridge, with a 3.03 percent decrease.
The next step in determining who is Minnesota's next governor begins Monday as ballots are recounted statewide. Efforts begin 9 a.m. Monday in Beltrami County, where recount teams will work in the County Board Room at the County Administration Building. Based on 2008 recount efforts for the U.S. Senate race -- in a higher voter-turnout presidential year -- Beltrami County Auditor Treasurer Kay Mack thinks the local count can be done by 4 p.m. Monday. Five teams of five people each will count ballots. Three of the team members are either nonpartisan volunteers or county staff.