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Managing Editor

The Anoka County Board Friday, Dec. 4 approved a 2010 budget of $258,741,980 and a net tax levy of $104,383,428.

While the operating budget reflects a 4.1 percent decrease from the 2009 total of $269,707,293, the net tax levy is going up some $3 million from $101,293,44 in 2009 on the heels of a 10 percent reduction in outside revenues other than property taxes.

According to County Administrator Terry Johnson, the final tax levy presented to the board was $406,000 less than the preliminary levy adopted in September.

This was the result of action taken by the county board in September - but too late to be figured into the preliminary levy - to close the county’s medium security jail in Lino Lakes and move those offenders to the Sherburne County Jail under a contract with the Sherburne County Board.

Many homeowners “will see a modest increase in county taxes for 2010” with property values on existing homes decreasing an average of 7.8 percent and a combined tax rate increase of 9.48 percent because of a shrinkage of the tax base from declining values, Johnson said.

Cevin Petersen, division manager for finance and central services, gave an example of the tax impact of the county budget and levy on an average residential homestead property in the county, which is valued at $209,300 for 2010 down from the 2009 value of $227,010, a 7.8 percent decline.

The county’s share of that tax will increase from $736.53 to $745.50, but that tax will be reduced when homestead tax credit is applied, Petersen said.

If there were no change in the value of the $227,010 home for 2010, then the county’s tax portion will go up from $736.53 to $806.40 before homestead tax credit is factored in, he said.

The county board vote to approve the 2010 tax levy and budget was 5-2 with Commissioners Robyn West and Rhonda Sivarajah opposed.

West presented the board with a list of cuts that she and Sivarajah were proposing to trim the budget and tax levy by $1.3 million.

According to West, the reductions they proposed included $35,000 on bond payment for a future park purchase, $250,000 in market rate salary adjustments for employees, $765,000 of money set aside for salary increases which are not likely to happen, $250,000 from the building fund and $5,000 in bonus money paid for exceptional service.

The county board needs to take into account the impacts of the “great recession” on the 15,000 county residents out of work, West said.

“We should be looking only at what is necessary, not a luxury, and subjecting the budget to the sort of scrutiny that families are doing with their budgets,” she said. “People are hurting.”

Sivarajah also addressed the unemployment rate, stating that the 8 percent figure for Anoka County was probably not a true figure of the number of people who don’t have jobs and that many people have exhausted their unemployment benefits.

But Commissioner Jim Kordiak said the board has been “budget bashing” for the past nine months and he was comfortable with the final package. “None of us is totally happy with the budget,” he said.

Anoka County Board Chairman Dennis Berg said the county still has to provide services during these times of recession for 2010 and beyond.

And Commissioner Dan Erhart pointed to the fact that the county’s per capita tax is the fifth lowest among the state’s 87 counties and one of the lowest in the metropolitan area.

“We ought to be proud of that,” he said. “We still provide good services to Anoka County residents.”

In 2009 a series of budget cuts were made by the county to address unallotment of state aid to the county by Gov. Tim Pawlenty in December 2008 and June 2009.

Net departmental budgets were cut some 5.8 percent for 2009 with $3.6 million of that figure reductions to the base budgets and another $1.8 million in one-time cuts, Johnson said.

In addition, the 2010 budget reflects an anticipated $3.2 million loss in county program aid from the state in 2010, he said.

But if the latest revenue forecast for the state budget showing a $1.2 billion deficit for the remainder to the state’s current budget cycle, more cuts in program aid can be expected, Johnson said. “It’s almost guaranteed,” he said.

According to Johnson, the 2010 budget again focuses on transportation and public safety as the top two priorities, but staff has been added to address huge increases in workloads and applicants in Income Maintenance and the Workforce Center.

“2010 will be a big year for rehabilitation of existing roadways, with more than $5 million targeted for the annual overlay program and $450,000 for bridge maintenance, crack sealing, signal painting and rail crossing repairs,” Johnson said.

However, the number of county full-time equivalent employees in 2010 will be on a par with 2001, yet the county population has grown by 12.5 percent since then and 25 of those positions are not funded for next year, he said.

The county board held a public meeting on the 2010 tax levy and budget Thursday, Dec. 3.


Peter Bodley is at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it