11 issues to follow ’11

Published 5:00 pm Saturday, January 1, 2011

One thing’s for sure: 2011 isn’t starting with a blank slate.

A crop of newly elected officials will face a stack of old problems, like aid cuts and a $6.2 billion budget deficit. On top of that, the county’s population will play a big part in how the city, county and area schools run services and programs. There’s a possible population decrease in Austin and an increasing enrollment in Austin Public Schools. These are just some of many issues Mower County residents will face in 2011.

Gov. Mark Dayton/GOP-controlled Legislature:

Email newsletter signup

Things could get interesting this legislative session. Minnesota has its first democratic governor since 1991, and the Legislature is controlled by Republicans for the first time in four decades.

Plenty of people will be waiting to see the answer.

“We’re kind of all waiting on pins and needles to see if the Legislature and governor actually work together for a change,” County Coordinator Craig Oscarson said. “Or is it just going to be trench warfare? … We hope not.”

With a complete switch in the balance of power, some legislators are wondering how the task of fixing the $6.2 billion budget deficit will pan out.

“The challenge of the next session is that there will be new leadership in all aspects of the legislative body, as well as the governor’s office,” said Rep. Jeanne Poppe, DFL-Austin. “Certainly the governor is going to be interested in trying to have a balanced approach with finding revenue.”

Sen. Dan Sparks, DFL-Austin, has previously said the focus of the Legislature will be the budget, and other topics that tie into that, like Local Government Aid.

“At this point everything has to be on the table,” Sparks said. “There’s going to be a need for permanent solutions. There’s a structural balancing problem that we’re going to have to get right to work on in January.”

Local Government Aid:

Due to the budget crisis in the state, city officials are concerned the Legislature will cut Local Government Aid during the 2011 session.

Poppe, Sparks and Dayton have all indicated they’ll work to keep LGA flowing to cities throughout the state, but they have also said everything has to be on the table when it comes to cutting state spending.

Over 52 percent of the city’s general fund, which is budgeted at $14.8 million, is accounted for by LGA. If the State Legislature cuts LGA during the coming legislative session, Austin’s budget could face a major roadblock.

“Any hiccups by the state of Minnesota can cause major problems for the City of Austin,” Director of Administrative Services Tom Dankert said previously. “The state of Minnesota’s (budget) imbalance … will more than likely alter the city’s plan for 2011.”

Hypothetically, if LGA is taken away completely, the city would need to approve a tax levy triple that of last year’s $3.9 million “in order to operate in the capacity we do now,” Dankert said. However, it is unlikely that LGA would be totally eliminated during this legislative session.

County Program Aid:

While Mower County balanced its budget for 2011, officials are waiting waiting on the state — again.

“That’s the big elephant in the room,” Oscarson said.

It’s become a yearly ritual for the state of Minnesota to balance its budget by cutting aid to cities, schools and counties. With a $6.2 billion state deficit, 2011 doesn’t look to be any different.

Further cuts to County Program Aid appear inevitable. Oscarson said the real question is when CPA will be cut again and by how much. Some officials have even talked about CPA being cut entirely, he said.

That would force the county to further reduce services and trim the budget. Regionalized services, like dispatch or Human Services, will be something the state may endorse to cut costs.

Oscarson said the county will look for more ways to share services with area cities and townships, something the county and city of Austin already do.

For example, the street and highway department often share equipment.

“There’s a lot of stuff that goes on between the city and county now,” Oscarson said. “They show good cooperation.”

School Budget:

There’s a lot at stake for school districts in the area. In January, state legislators will start looking at a budget deficit of $6.2 billion. While state legislators have told Austin Public School officials they’ll try not to cut per pupil funding, categorized funding and targeted services are at stake. There are rumors integration funding is at risk of either being restructered or cut entirely, according to Mark Stotts, the district’s finance and operations director.

Statewide, school districts haven’t received an increase in per pupil funding, which makes up a majority of school aid, in three years. That isn’t likely to increase any time soon due to budget deficits. Although Austin has grown its unreserved fund balance over the years, the district can no longer expect one-time grant money from state and federal sources, like the stimulus money the district received in 2009 and the Education Jobs Bill grant in September of 2010.

School overcrowding:

2011 is a big year for Austin Public Schools, literally. The next school year marks the start of a staggering increase of 300 to 400 students over the next five years, according to demographic and facility usage reports. Almost every school in the district, with the exception of Austin High School, is currently over capacity.

That’s why the school district has decided to form a community task force to look at overcrowding solutions. As of Dec. 20, about 21 community members signed up for the task force, but the district will take volunteers to round out the committee at 30 members. Meetings will start in January and the task force must make a recommendation to the school board by May. The school board will have until September to either accept the proposal or come to a different decision, in case district officials have to propose a referendum in November.

Census:

Last year’s census results could affect many city and county services and programs. Austin’s official population according to the 2000 census was 23,314, and an estimate in 2009 cited the town as having a population of 22,981.

County and city census information is set to be released in February. These numbers could affect federal subsidies the city receives and, potentially, the amount of LGA allotted to Austin by the state. If the City of Austin experiences a decrease in population, the city’s Local Government Aid, which makes up a majority of city funding, will decrease. The same goes for Mower County’s County Program Aid.

Mayor Tom Stiehm said he hopes the city’s population comes in over 23,000, especially because city officials took so much care in trying to get everyone counted.

The county will most likely take part in redistricting, which will affect where residents can vote, as well as which city, county and state elected positions they can vote for.

Redistricting:

During the 2011 legislative session, lawmakers will be working to draw new lines for Minnesota’s legislative districts.

Local representative Jeanne Poppe, DFL—Austin will serve on the committee, and she said she is looking forward to having some influence on the topic.

“Redistricting will impact the legislative seats … and we’ll kind of see how we make a difference in representation of the state,” she said. “That is one I didn’t seek but was asked to serve on, so I’m proud of that.”

Redistricting could significantly impact the next election. Depending on where the lines are drawn, some districts may see a swing in their overall political leaning.

Unfunded mandates:

With people wondering whether the governor and Legislature will work together, many are waiting to see if the two will reform unfunded mandates.

The state mandates area schools and the county to provide a number of services without supplying the funding. Oscarson has said dealing with such requirements is one of the biggest challenges the county faces, especially when state funds are decreasing.

One Minnesota county completed a survey to estimate that there are more than 5,000 mandates counties must follow, Oscarson said.

“There’s got to be some of those mandates and rules that are ridiculous or could be modified,” he said.

The county and the Association of Minnesota Counties will look to pinpoint mandates that can easily be tweaked or removed as a reprieve to the counties.

“You’re not going to change it all in one year,” Oscarson said. “If you can start someplace and fix a little bit here and there, pretty soon the train gets back on the track.”

‘Rookie’ county board:

Aside from Commissioner Ray Tucker, the county board will be made of commissioners in their first terms — including three commissioners who have served less than a full year.

“The challenge will be to try to get them up to speed as quickly as possible,” Oscarson said.

Jerry Reinartz and Tony Bennett will take office next week. Mike Ankeny has served about nine months since winning a special election in District 5 last February. Tim Gabrielson is partway through his first term.

“We’ve got basically rookie commissioners,” Oscarson said, though he noted Gabrielson and Ankeny have learned to ropes quickly.

Early in the new year, the board will hold a retreat where each of the county’s department heads will present on the functions and challenges of the department.

“We need to get them educated on what county government does for services,” Oscarson said.

Once the new commissioners are up to speed on the county duties, the board will map out its vision and goals for the coming year.

Oscarson said the meeting will answer one basic question: “What do they want the face of this county to look like?”

For example, the board could make freezing taxes one of its priorities, or it could choose to focus on a service like public safety.

A new home for Health and Human Services:

Once the new commissioners have their feet wet, the board will shift its focus to the future of Health and Human Services.

With the lease for the offices set to expire at Oak Park Mall in a few years, the board will need to decide whether to renew the lease, move the offices to the Mower County Government Center or build a new facility on the “Robbin’s block.”

“Not only is cost a factor, but the service level is a factor, too,” Oscarson said.

If the board decides to move the offices downtown, Oscarson said that would make downtown the center for county services.

Some employees have expressed displeasure with traveling back and forth between the mall and downtown.

Talks in the state about regionalizing the services could sway the final decision. Also, Oak Park Mall has been late paying property taxes recently, leading some to question the mall’s stability.

Cedar River Watershed District Rules:

The Cedar River Watershed District completed a draft of its rules, but now the question is how the rules affect citizens.

The draft addresses issues like stormwater, drainage, erosion and the other problems that have been a burden in Mower and surrounding counties. However, the rules also delve into regulation of farming practices, runoff and other land uses.

But some of the rules are still vague, and the proposed draft has several more reviews to go through by higher organizations.

Enforcement of the rules is another question mark. Enforcement is expected to be education first, notification second and then enforcement. According to the preliminary draft, a violation will be considered a misdemeanor.

CRWD staff are working on public information materials about the rules that are easy to understand and not overwhelming to citizens, Nordby said.

A final public hearing is tentatively set for March 16.

Amanda Lillie, Trey Mewes and Jason Schoonover contributed to this story.