Grand Forks Taxpayers Expected to Fork More Money Over
For the County Government’s mistakes:
The Grand Forks County Commission approved a plan Tuesday that would impose a levy of as much as 10 mills to pay the debt service on the new jail building.
The plan, presented by the commission’s bonding counsel, is the latest move required because of mistakes made a year ago in budgeting for the new jail, which is nearly full of inmates.
Gary Malm, commission chairman, emphasized that the five-member board hasn’t decided yet to levy that much but only to accept a plan that would allow such a levy. Not until all the budgets for the 2008 fiscal year are in and analyzed will the commission know how much it will need to pay down on the $1.3 million in debt service on the new $16 million jail building, Malm said.
A mill levied across the county this year raised $161,000, so 10 mills would raise $1.6 million, according to figures provided by Debbie Nelson, county auditor.
There are so many things going on here that it’s hard to keep them straight.
First of all the County Commission deserves much of the blame for this fiasco. They didn’t ask the voters for their permission and they really weren’t interested in listening to any concerns. In fact a news story I read/heard said they didn’t have to go to the public because this would be a profitable venture for the county. In hindsight wouldn’t it have been best to listen and respond to the public concerns about how this fancy jail is going to make money?
I find it odd that they are picking this time to talk about raising taxes. Earlier in the month the County had a vote for the taxpayers approve raising taxes to fund a new 911 center. You don’t suppose that they held up news of this potential tax increase until after that vote. (Fortunately the vote went down, for now.) I find that pretty insulting that they hold off on the bad news until after their special election that no one knew about and no one knew about where to vote.
I don’t know if there are any specific members of the County Commission are to blame. Of course it’s hard to know since they act in virtual secrecy. All in all I think it’s time for a whole new slate.
The obvious question is where should the money come from to pay for the County Commissions mistake? In the last five years our property taxes that have gone to the county have increased probably 25-30%. The people didn’t get any more services. I propose that the NEW County Commission find new spending to cut and pay for it out of current revenue. I think the county bureaucracy needs to know that they have to spend our money a whole lot more carefully.
