Commissioners discussed a policy relating to the collection of fees/debts at the board’s April 8 meeting.
The state auditor recommended that counties create a policy for identifying accounts that are uncollectable. “Accounts Receivable write-off of Collection Debts policy for identifying and writing off accounts that are determined uncollectable.” This includes parental fees, fees related to court activities, out of home reimbursement fees, detox fees, reimbursement of child’s income or any other miscellaneous fees.
Social Services manager Wanda Berg said, “We are trying to be more proactive, we now have a collections officer who works on collecting these accounts.” Commissioner Mitch Lentz asked if corrections could deal with collections. Tom Jensen, Corrections, said they are not set up for financial collections.
Diane Olson, fiscal officer for Social Services, explained, “We are working on improving the process; we are working on getting the legal authority in place to help with collections.” The policy outlines procedures to follow to get judgements which are important for collections.
The Collection Policy was approved as presented.
Write-offs of debts that are no longer collectable through the end of 2024 were also approved. The write-offs totaled $227,252.11 and included debts that could no longer be collected due mostly to statute of limitations being past. Debts included were from 2002 through the end of 2024. A large percentage of these uncollectable debts were detox related. County Administrator Bobbie Hillery estimated that the write-offs over the last five years average $10,000 to $11,000 per year. Olson noted writing off these uncollectable debts will clear the books, so they can focus on the ones that are still collectable. Commissioners asked to see see a report on these debts on a regular basis, maybe quarterly or twice a year.
Highway Equipment Replacement Schedule
Brent Kohn presented a spreadsheet on all highway equipment. The spreadsheet included each piece of equipment’s life span, if each piece of equipment is past that life span for replacement, replacement cost, hours or mileage, and trade-in value. He provided estimated budgets needed to get back on schedule for replacements over the next five years.
Kohn said it is important to keep equipment on a regular schedule to protect trade-in value. Purchase values have gone up 130% to 150% over the last 20 years. Lentz insisted funds should be put into reserves for equipment each year. Kohn said $700,000 for equipment in the budget is not enough to keep up; “We need $900,000 to keep on schedule.”
Hillery acknowledged that cuts have been made in the past either to technology or highway to keep the levy down. At this time less than $600,000 is budgeted.
County Engineer Ron Gregg concluded this was an exercise “to let you know where we are at.”
Other Business in Brief
- Ryan Rasmusson was hired as the replacement county assessor, effective April 28. His annual salary will be $127,421.71.
- A draft of the Safety Footwear Policy was reviewed.
- Zachary Raskovich, Mediacom, requested a letter of support for the company’s application for Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment Program (BEAD) federal funding for a project for the city of Ostrander. The plan is to build 3.54 miles of fiber to serve 138 customers in the city.
John Tabbert, AcenTek, requested a letter of support for the company’s application for BEAD federal funding for a project for the city of Ostrander and the surrounding rural area which will include 207 locations. The funding for the project will be 40% BEAD, 60% Acentek. If awarded, the grant construction will start in the summer of 2026.
The above two applications which need to be in by April 21 will both be competing for BEAD funding. Both may accept a 0% interest loan in the amount of $75,000 from the county for three years if available. A letter of support from Fillmore County was approved for each of the applications for BEAD funding.
- Approval was granted to accept a $1,200 private donation to the Veterans in Need fund.
- Approval was granted to open a second interest bearing bank account with MAGIC for Enhanced 911 grant funds. The second account will make the county compliant with state statute.
- A Master Partnership contract with MnDOT for 2025 was approved for the roadway striping program. Striping has been performed by MnDOT for the last five years.
- An agreement with MnDoOTfor the use of CSAH 1 and CSAH 14 as a temporary highway 63 detour was approved. The county will be compensated $2,461.10. A resolution to allow signatures on the agreement was adopted for the use and maintenance of CSAH 1 and CASH 14 as a detour route.
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