The August 25 meeting of the Fillmore County Board began with a moment of silence to remember Commissioner Larry Hindt who recently passed after a long illness.
Budgets were reviewed for the Sheriff’s Office, Veterans Services Office, Public Health, Human Services, and Administration.
Sheriff John DeGeorge said he wants to add funding for Wellness. It will require a mandatory visit for every employee with a licensed mental health professional. Visits will be completely confidential.
Jason Marquardt, Veterans Services, reported that there will be no added positions in his office; everything is pretty much the same as last year.
Jessica Erickson, Public Health, said no positions will be added. Three waiver workers will be transitioned to Public Health from Human Services (revenues and expenditures will be moved also). The Public Health budget will increase significantly, as much as $648,919. The large increase is due to the transition of waiver workers ($208,730), cost of living adjustments ($250,189), and the county cost shift ($190,000). The county cost shift comes through the state because of federal cuts (budgeted for estimated 3% of cost).
Human Services Director Wanda Berg said there is a significant budget increase even with the waiver workers transitioning to Public Health. A lot of this increase is associated with SNAP; the county is now responsible for 75% of SNAP administration, up from 50%. The county will also pay a penalty for an error rate which represents the error rate of all counties in the state. Commissioner Mitch Lentz said the samples from Fillmore County were good with a zero-error rate.
Berg also asked for an additional eligibility worker. With the policy changes in the SNAP work requirement, there will be additional work as a six-month review is now required; it had required an annual review. Fillmore County eligibility workers average 300 or more cases; most counties average about 250 cases per eligibility worker.
Fillmore County and the Association of Minnesota Counties have pushed for legislative investment in modernization of Human Services technology systems for years. The system is out of date and inefficient. There has been a lack of investment by the state in county IT infrastructure.
Lentz credited Representative Greg Davids for his effort to push through the modernization of Human Services technology in the legislature. Modernization will impact the county in the future, improving efficiency.
Hillery noted health insurance will be a 9% increase; an 18 % increase had been used for early budgeting. This will allow a $216,000 reduction in the proposed budget for health insurance. Even with this reduction the preliminary figures for the 2027 budget still show a double digit increase in the levy.
A total of $331,214 has been added into the 2027 budget because of federal cuts to the state. This amounts to about 2.3% of the county’s proposed budget. Without this shift from the federal government through the state the proposed levy would now show an 8.8% increase.
Commissioner Marc Prestby complained that we are pricing people out of their homes; he insisted each department should look for more cuts. A 1% cut equals about $120,000.
Hillery said she has some ideas where she can start looking for cuts.
Other Business in Brief
•Dr. R. Ross Reichard, Chief Medical Examiner, reviewed 2025 Fillmore County statistics. The total number of deaths in 2025 in the county was 198. Of the 82% of the deaths reported to the medical examiner, 10 were accidents, two undetermined and 150 were natural.
Most unnatural/accidental deaths resulted from a fall. There were no suicides or homicides in Fillmore County in 2025. There were no accidental deaths related to poison or drugs. There were two chronic alcohol related deaths. Deaths by natural causes resulted mostly from cancer, cardiac issues, neurological issues (stroke or dementia), or pulmonary issues.
Reichard said the Fillmore County death investigators are critically important to his office.
An amendment to the Medical Examiner/Autopsy Services Agreement was approved as presented. The charge for services will be $3.53 per capita based on a population of 21,136 in 2027 and will increase by 2% in each year from 2028 through 2030.
•A quote from Rochester Sand & Gravel in the amount of $105,402 for the Fillmore County Courthouse parking lot replacement was approved.
•An agreement to remove a cattle pass underneath CSAH 12 was approved. The owners of the real estate on the north and south side of the cattle pass in section 12 of Preston Township consented to the removal of the cattle pass.
•Hannah Wolf was hired as a replacement social worker, effective September 28.
•A cost report contract with Government Management Group, Inc. for 2027, 2028, and 2029 was approved to prepare the county’s central services cost allocation plans. The service will cost the county $6,000 for each of the next three years.
•Approval was given to apply for courthouse security grant dollars for upgrades and security. The grant requires a 50% match.
•Approval was granted for an agreement for electronic document software for the County Attorney’s Office. There is a $5,000 up front implementation fee. Attorney Brett Corson explained that with body cameras juries expect digital evidence. The software is expected to save a lot of time going through a huge chunk of data.
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