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Chisago County commissioners unanimously supported a levy for 2027 at a maximum sum of $55,264,483.  This local levy will support expenditures of $104,400, 976.  The adopted max is up from 2026 by some 6.4 percent.

The goal is to chip away at this until the Truth in Taxation public hearing December 2, at 7 p.m.  The final numbers get adopted after that.

From comments last week before the levy vote the setting of the budget was a pleasant experience. Commissioners congratulated each other for “long hours” and “working well together” and staff and subcommittee deep dives serving the process very well.

Needed adjustments await some pending federal and state decisions on funding levels for programs the county administers but only because counties are ordered to do so.  “Unfunded mandates” in social programs mostly, are a perennial concern for local governing units.

For the Transportation Improvement Program in 2027 Chisago County is pretty much counting on tab registration (wheelage) surcharges and local option sales tax proceeds to cover the costs.  A payment for a GO Bond sold in 2015 to refinance some debt is being made out of balance on-hand at $250,000.  Other financial accommodations could still be made, and as noted by Commissioner Marlys Dunne contingency items can still be shifted, adding, “I expect to bring this (the 6.4 percent hike) down.”

In other business, the County Board:

Approved a proclamation of thanks to 22 year Watershed District Board member (and frequent chair) Jackie Anderson. As a resident on Comfort Lake she was instrumental in establishing the watershed district board.  Her post is expiring this month and the county commissioners voted to appoint Ted Hansen to the seat, to represent Comfort Lake.  

The watershed district covers part of northern Washington County and the southwest of Chisago County.

Watershed District Executive Director Mike Kinney gave a presentation on the status of the organization and its accomplishments.  The take-away message was to consider the economic activity that a clean lake and river way (Sunrise) make possible. 

The return on investments of public dollars into water quality is manifested many times over.  There are no longer local beach closures,  gain in property values is measureable, people can rely on there being a lake worthy of visiting or purchasing property on, for fishing and swimming and business related to those activities thrives.  The environmental positives improving habitat and the ecosystem are important.

The district took a diagnostic analysis approach that led to leveraging outside funding, with science backed objectives,  that wouldn’t have been possible without the leadership of the district managers.  Kinney noted the district has $5.8 million in active grants right now, part of the reason behind achieving clean water goals.

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