Ransom County Commission Mill levy increase for extension office to be on ballot
At the Ransom County Commission meeting, with members Wayne Jones and Steve Dick absent, held at the courthouse in Lisbon on Tuesday, March 18th, the decision to place a mill levy increase for the extension office on the June election ballot was made. According to Commission chairman, Kevin Bishop, “The issue is basically a house-cleaning matter”.
County Auditor, Connie Gilbert stressed that the short fall in the extension office budget does stem from overspending, but inadequacy in the current two-mill levy for that department.
States Attorney Fallon Kelly, at the request of the Commission, had prepared a resolution and ballot question for their review. The resolution paraphrased, says:
The Board of County Commissioners have been informed that from year to year, the general fund is being used to fund the extension office due to inadequacy of the current two-mill levy for the extension office; and has determined that on a residential property with true and full value of $100,000, an increase of two mills, if utilized, would increase the taxes on that residential property by a dollar amount of $9; and it is the desire of the Commissioners to put the question to the electorate as to whether it is advisable to increase the mill levy for extension work from the current mill levy of 2 mills up to the maximum of 4 mills, if needed.
The wording on the ballot in June would read: “Shall the County of Ransom increase the mill levy for the extension office work from its current levy of 2 mills to the maximum of 4 mills allowed by North Dakota law? Yes or No.”
The Commissioners stressed that should the mill levy issue on the ballot fail to pass, they would continue to fund the inadequacy of the current levy out of the General Fund.
Commissioner George Bunn made the statement that it is a shame that more townships do not attend the township officers meetings. He said that there are things that they need to be informed of, such as turning in paperwork for FEMA projects.
It was also announced that Ransom County would be hosting the five-county meeting on April 3rd at the Stake Out Restaurant. A seminar entitled, “Testifying on legal proceedings” would be presented. All area county employees would be welcome to attend the seminar, free of charge.
Wendy Jacobson, Human Services, attended the meeting and requested that the county approve a resolution urging participation in a campaign to stop sexual exploitation of children. The campaign is being launched by the National Association of Counties’ Large Urban County Caucus in conjunction with the National Center for missing and Exploited Children.
Jacobson suggested that a county task force be appointed to set up activities and speakers to bring the information to area schools. Kelly was asked to draft a resolution and bring it back to the April 1st meeting.
Jacobson also asked permission to set up a pinwheel display on the county grounds in April, in recognition of Child Abuse Prevention Month.
Jacobson also asked whether her office could use one of the spaces in the old health building for storage? After discussion, the Commission gave permission for the Human Services Department to have the room. It was later learned that Randy Gallagher had hoped to use this room as a courthouse storage area.
Jacobson also asked whether her department would receive keys to enter the building from the parking lot door? The Commissioners are reluctant to have numerous keys for the building and at this time Gallagher will have the only key for this door and will open and close the building each working day as he does the courthouse building.
The Commissioners discussed further how the rest of the old health building would be utilized. Due to two members absent, it was decided that it should be tabled until their April 1st meeting.
The issue of a $5,000 FEMA check received by Island Park Township and turned over to the county and which was tabled at the Commission’s April 4th meeting, was discussed further. Emergency Manager, Teresa Rotenberger, was asked which projects these FEMA funds were for. Rotenberger said that these dollars were for smaller projects, and was not for the larger projects that the county had assisted the township with previously. The Commissioner voted to return the money to Island Park Township.
The North Dakota Veterans Home will be hosting a NDPERS Benefit Counseling Service on April 23 and 24. Gilbert asked if county employees could attend one of these classes? The commissioner had no problem with employees taking advantage of the classes.
Discussion on who collects delinquent mobile home taxes ensued. In the past the Sheriff’s Department has done the job. Kelly will research what the law requires in the collections of taxes and report back to the Commission.
Gilbert reported that the 2002 Expedition Sheriff’s vehicle will be advertised in the county’s two newspapers and bids will be sent to her office, not the sheriff’s. The bid opening is scheduled for the Commission’s April 15th meeting.
In final business, Gilbert said that she has received new functional classification maps from the North Dakota Department of Transportation.
Also discussed by the Commissioners was the previous letter from the DOT concerning encroachment of county Functional Classification System (FCS) roads. Gilbert said that road superintendent, Jerry Lamb, is working on a county right-of-way map on the FCS roads.