Over the last couple of months the county board has been considering a shuffling of offices for Tax Payer Services to fit them all on one level of the courthouse. On April 2 the board came to an agreement and unanimously approved a new office arrangement.
Lands Records Director Brian Hoff and Auditor/Treasurer Heidi Jones were concerned about space and noise. Hoff addressed commissioners; with all due respect with both land records and A/T in the same space it is extremely crowded. Our biggest concern is for tax payers, citing congestion and noise levels at the counter.
Hoff favored putting land records/assessor back where it was and Zoning on the north side of the A/T office. He suggested they could still do crossover work with account technicians.
Chairman Duane Bakke maintained it makes sense for A/T and land records to be in the same location as together they produce tax statements. Lentz agreed land records and A/T will be more effective and efficient working together.
County Attorney Brett Corson expressed his concerns over privacy for the public sector in these work spaces. Bakke countered it is just a matter of putting some dividers in place.
Hoff and Jones recognized at this point they were going to be in the same area. Jones asked for cubicle walls to maintain privacy of computer data. She added Hoff’s staff could be trained as election judges also. Hoff pointed to difficulties with acoustics and asked that there be dividers between appraisers; there needs to be three bays to muffle the noise.
County Coordinator Bobbie Vickerman said she had already spoke to Hoff’s staff about looking into dividers where needed.
The board unanimously approved a motion to move forward. The land records and A/T will occupy the space where the A/T has been. Zoning and Feedlot will move into the area where the assessor’s office was. The recorder’s office will stay where it has been. Victim Services will move into the current Zoning office area downstairs.
This arrangement will require the least amount of construction expense.
Other business in brief
•Jones described a request from Richard Adams to repurchase a forfeited property in Lanesboro. Total cost to repurchase is $5,404.81 including several fees, taxes and penalties. The right to repurchase must be approved unanimously by the county board. Commissioner Randy Dahl asked about the amount the county recoups for its expenses. The repurchase fee is $25.
Dahl suggested the actual costs to the county should be determined for future repurchase requests. Jones stated the county benefits with the repurchase by getting paid back taxes and getting the property back on the tax rolls. Vic Peterson was present and explained he intended to rehab the house. A motion to approve the repurchase failed because it was not approved unanimously; it was 3-1. Commissioner Marc Prestby voted no.
•Jones explained that tax statements will be reprinted due to a graphical error which was the printer’s error. There were also some valuation issues which were county errors. The reprinting of new tax bills with an explanation note will be at no cost to the county. However, the county will pay remailing costs of $4,709.04.
•Sheriff John DeGeorge said the department is replacing a 2013 Impala with a 2019 Ford Interceptor Utility. Because of the differences in the vehicles the equipment will have to be new. The purchase of new squad car equipment and set up costs were approved (Emergency Automotive Technologies, Inc. in the amount of $9,894.42; Watch Guard for camera system in the amount of $4,820; Kelly Printing and Signs in the amount of $484.50; and MPH Industries for radar system in the amount of $1,746).
DeGeoge said we pay a flat fee of $350 to Enterprise Fleet Management to strip and sell the old car. He suggested there needs to be a conversation about whether or not to continue with Enterprise on another day.
The purchase of 2019 training and duty ammunition at a cost of $3,524.96 was approved. This is the cost for the entire year.
•The second reading of the Early Retirement Incentive Program policy was approved.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Fillmore County and the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local No. 49 was approved. The MOU reflects changes from a 6 step pay plan to a 10 step pay plan; wage changes were retroactive to January 1, 2019. The union already approved the MOU subject to county board approval.
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