Stearns County Approves 2022 Preliminary Budget

(KNSI) – Stearns County adopted its preliminary budget, but county commissioners ask department heads to make some cuts. Stearns County approved an overall budget of nearly $177 million, with $87 million coming from property taxes. The rest comes from state and federal programs.

The $87 million represents an 8.24% increase in expenses and a 4.25% increase in the overall property tax levy. Stearns County Administrator Michael Williams says the budget can’t go any higher but can go lower, which is precisely what commissioners want.

“The board did adopt that preliminary budget levy but at the same time, issued an opinion or a challenge to us to bring back a budget that is more in line with only a two to 3% increase.”

Williams says a couple of things are driving up the expenses.

“It’s going to be a big year of highway construction. We have a budget of $25 million in highway construction. We’re also seeing a fair amount to fund some major systems improvements that were needed.”

The system improvements include a new payroll system. Williams says they still aren’t sure what the cost of living increases for employees because Stearns County has to negotiate contracts with its workers in the next couple of months. The county must also cover the cost of an election in 2022. Four new staff members will be hired, including a sheriff’s deputy, a 911 dispatcher, a highway engineer and a driver’s license coordinator.

The budget has an increase in expenditures of $13 million, an 8.24% increase. There is also an increase in revenues of $10 million along with a significant increase in the use of the fund balance of $4.5 million and $2.5 million being set aside for future costs of a new jail.

The budget means a property that doesn’t have a change in property values will see reduced property taxes. Residential properties seeing the anticipated 5.5% property value increase in 2022 will have an average increase in their property taxes of 6.2% on a home worth $200,000 or an average 5.7% increase on a $300,000 home.

There will be a truth and taxation hearing on November 30th where the public can speak to the board about the budget. Comments can also be submitted anytime to the Stearns County Administrations Office.

The budget will be finalized on December 14th.

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