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The watershed district that covers the southeast portion of Chisago County and greater Forest Lake adopted a 2025 budget and levy last week, set at a five percent increase from the 2024 levy.  

The discussion about the expenses and revenues to fund the Comfort Lake-Forest Lake Watershed District budget began with a proposal for a 24 percent hike.  The five percent vote was 3-2, Managers Schmaltz, Bakke and Toavs in favor and Anderson and Loth opposed. 

Watershed district board President Steve Schmaltz pointed out the sensitivity of taxpayers regarding any increase in the double digits.

The formal resolution is to be enacted at the district’s September 13 meeting, then submitted to the Boards for Chisago and Washington counties to be part of the formula calculating mailed tax statement estimates this fall.  

Schmaltz said he couldn’t picture himself successfully arguing in support of the extra dollars that a double-digit percentage hike would generate.

The district has been running two staff members short of what was budgeted  this fiscal year and this will leave savings, Schmaltz added.  This becomes carryover, which can be used for expenses down the road.  In the adopted budget the district predicts using $240,000 of an existing balance. 

Plus, CL-FL WD has both secured and ‘pending’ grants that are innovative and promising for next year.  Forest Lake alum treatments have begun and second phase applications are accounted for in 2025.  This binds phosphorus which is a nutrient for weeds and makes it unavailable.  

A feedlot cleanup project upstream of School Lake is secured.  The contaminants affect Little and Big Comfort Lakes downstream.  

A city park in Forest Lake at North Shore Circle is an upcoming shoreline restoration and public demonstration project as well. 

One of the managers who supported considering the larger increase argued for more attention and projects within her subwatershed.  Jackie Anderson, Comfort Lake property owner, observed that the district has put a lot of resources into the territory south of the county line.  A few years ago the district had a number of studies, research and water quality capital projects ongoing and the budget/levy increase was  23 percent at one point and nobody put up a fuss then, Anderson noted.

Now, the fiscal picture has evolved and there are obligations.  District Executive Director Mike Kinney stressed the Comfort Lake-Forest Lake Watershed District budget carries a debt service line item for 2025 of $500,000.  

The district is busy with a host of environmental projects, with tracking and permitting development and growth, inspections and plan reviews, and public cost-share outreach. Sustaining the general momentum of ongoing successes is important because it puts a good light on pending and future funding requests.  

And, there is some hope  for more directed watershed task money from the state as well, Kinney added.  Issues like flooding and reducing its severity, climate change impacts and a Green Corridor concept,  are just a few long range complex matters on the horizon.

Board Manager Dave Bakke commented that he looks at the district’s levy as a slice of the overall tax bill pie,  and he couldn’t justify it exceeding three or four percent.  There was a comparison provided of several other watershed district tax levies as a percentage of their local  average residential property tax bill— not a perfect comparison— but it showed CL-FLWD on the higher end at five percent. 

Executive  Director Kinney noted this Board faces water resources that are anything but simple (large lakes, streams, wetlands and years of misguided development practices) and also has a different mix of residential to commercial tax base.  There are no two identical watershed districts.

Bakke responded however, that on his tax bill, the district is at five percent and “...this is what people will look at.”

Manager Christopher Loth was the other no vote on the five percent along with Anderson. He advocated for use of the additional tax revenue for needed district analysis  and projects he felt important.   He concurred a few percentage points’ more of a hike was digestible,  to taxpayers, spread over the year.

The budget for 2025 is on the website at www.clflwd.org.  The expenditures in 2025 and revenues will be balanced at $3,139,652.   

In public comment—Russell Mansmith, who owns a large tract on the west side of the freeway that he said he planted for a Christmas Tree Farm decades ago, submitted a concern.  

There is a foot of sustained standing water  now, it’s been deeper,  and trees have been killed. He feels the cause is an  un-tended ditch.

Kinney responded that this year, with the exceedingly wet spring,  complaints about poor drainage are numerous across the district.  The district is attempting to map infrastructure locations and estimate the capacity of the manmade and natural draining in the watershed, but finds that records are incomplete.

Mansmith remarked that efforts directed at water quality and condition of the lakes is indicative of the district’s “limited mission.”   He stressed there are watershed hydrologic responsibilities beyond just lake water quality.

Mansmith was advised that staff will look into the ditch history (which is in Washington County) and if it is a private,  or a government maintained system.  If the district has a role in rectifying the standing water it will address what it can.

Public welcome to attend “State of the Watershed” September 18

The Comfort Lake – Forest Lake Watershed District (CLFLWD) would like to extend an invitation to the State of the Watershed and 25th Anniversary Banquet to be held September 18 from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Forest Lake American Legion.

The State of the Watershed is free to attend and aims to provide citizens and partners with insight into the District’s programming, projects, and activities. The evening will commence with a social half hour followed by a comprehensive presentation by the District staff and board members.

Following the presentation,  a buffet-style dinner and 25th anniversary reception will commence. During the reception, the 2024 Watershed Champion Award recipients will be announced.

To share in the evening’s programming and networking, please RSVP via email to [email protected] or by phone to (651) 395-5850 by September 6.

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