In order to maintain the level of interest income on Mower County’s investments, the commissioners cannot dip too deeply into its reserves.

Wednesday, May 31, 2000

In order to maintain the level of interest income on Mower County’s investments, the commissioners cannot dip too deeply into its reserves.

Currently, the county board has budgeted $1.6 million in interest income on its investments this year.

The county’s reserves hover around $31 million to $32 million.

If it spends an estimated $5.1 million to implement the top priorities of a long-range strategic planning committee, a 6 percent return on the investments of some $26.7 million left over will not have much impact on the anticipated interest income earned by the county each year.

Add to the $5.1 million figure the amount the county anticipates spending on a multipurpose building at the fairgrounds and that figure could have an impact on the interest income to be earned from the county’s reserves.

That’s why the county commissioners are moving slowly to implement any long-range strategic planning recommendations.

That’s why spending $12,500 for a county housing study created so much discussion Tuesday.

That’s also why the county commissioners are eagerly awaiting news from the Minnesota Amateur Athletic Commission on their application for Might Ducks grant monies to help fund the multi-purpose building project.

The top priorities from all the recommendations of the long-range strategic planning committee are these:

n Global Information System upgrading: Startup costs are estimated at $750,000, with $110,000 in additional costs.

n Family Facilitators: A total of $275,000 will fund the hiring of individuals to perform family intervention activities.

n Bridge replacement: A total of $700,000 in one-time expenditures will help fund the upgrades of all bridges deemed deficient in the county.

n Youth commission to oversee the well-being of children at risk: $8,400 is sought in startup costs and $4,000 a year afterward.

n Countywide truancy program: This is estimated to cost $35,000 a year.

n An elderly commission to oversee the well-being of the county’s rapidly growing aged population: This is estimated at $8,400 in startup costs and $4,000 a year afterward.

n Countywide housing study to assess housing needs in every community outside the city of Austin: This carries a one-time $12,500 cost.

The county commissioners discussed the long-range strategic planning committee’s recommendations a month ago before paring down the list to their six favorites.

On Tuesday, they discussed the top six priorities and added a seventh, the housing study.

County Coordinator Craig Oscarson was asked to seek the input of county department heads and more details, including a formula, about how the list of priorities would be funded and a timetable for their implementation.

Then the county’s long-range strategists will be reconvened to examine the final draft, probably June 21. The proposals to implement or not to implement will return for a decision by the county board.

"Keep in mind," Oscarson cautioned, "that whatever you do, our other costs of county government will continue to go up."

The county board’s finance committee is determined to assess the new priorities implemented annually to ensure their qualification for continued funding.

"Right now, the amount to implement all of the top priorities is about $5.1 million," Oscarson said. "What you have to ask yourselves is this: Is that too much? Is that conservative? Is that too low?"

"It could be all three of those answers," Richard P. Cummings, First District county commissioner, said.

"I think you still need a rainy-day fund," Oscarson said. "The question is ‘How much is that?’"

According to Oscarson’s observations, spending $5.1 million to implement recommendations from the long-range strategic planning committee "won’t have a negative impact on the county’s interest income."

Noting that the cities of LeRoy, Adams and Brownsdale have come to the county board asking for a share of the reserves to implement their own community betterment projects, David Hillier, Third District, asked a question.

"Will another housing study give our communities enough information to go out and do some things on their own?" Hillier wanted to know. "We’ve had requests from towns for money for lot buy down and other ideas."

Ray Tucker, Second District, said, "The rest of the communities are doing just great without another housing study."

Tucker, chairman of the county board, pointed to successful housing projects in Grand Meadow and Racine as an example of communities working to meet their own housing needs.

"I think there’s some redundancy here," he said of the county’s existing housing study and the proposed new one. He also said the city of Austin’s pressing housing needs for a growing ethnic-minority population "seems to be the only place that needs that sort of information right now."

Daryl W. Franklin, county planner and executive director of the Mower County Housing and Redevelopment Authority, submitted the request for a new county housing study.

According to Franklin, the county’s existing housing study was done five years ago, when the information was "one or two years old at the time."

Mower County also is going to have its comprehensive plan – seven years old – updated at an expense of $60,000.

In the end, Hillier and Cummings said a new housing study would be a helpful asset to the county and each community it includes and the five members agreed to make it one of their top priorities.

At that point, Oscarson observed about the priorities, "You’ve got some special things here and you’d like to designate funds for them."

The city of Austin has been accused of "sitting on" its own millions of reserves, but hiding behind the umbrella of having designated the monies for specific future uses.

Is that what the county board wants to do?

To a person, they said "no" and that they will carefully examine the final recommendations for implementation.

Hillier also pointed out that while the county’s share of the multipurpose building project has grown from $500,000 to $2.5 million – and possibly more if the Mighty Ducks grants are not funded by the state - the county has successfully earned the pledges from several private sector sources to assist in the funding.

"It’s now a $4.5 million project as it stands, but whatever money the county will have to use for it, including to pay upfront monies for the other financial partners, that money will be repaid to the county as their pledge."