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County collections not yet breaking evenBy Barbara Brown Gagne, speaking at the Feb. 5 meeting, told the commissioners that more than $330,000 in collections have been made since she was hired in 1997. In fiscal year 2002, the county collected $41,415. The county also collects unpaid fees through the collection function of the Health and Human Services Department. The annual cost for the collectorís position is about $40,000. The average collected since 1997 is about $56,000 per year. Gagne said one of the best parts about her job is that she is teaching social responsibility to residents. She said earning the trust of residents has been difficult, but she can see it is happening. ìItís great now,î Gagne said. ìThere are times that people are actually calling me up and saying they have a debt to pay and can we work something out.î Gagne told the commissioners that her department is most interested in working with residents so the county gets what is due without breaking the financial constraints of the people who owe money. The County has $162,085.07 in mobile home taxes that are due and $166,619.96 in fines. Sheriffís changes The board also agreed to let Sheriff Todd Rivard reorganize some of his staff. The changes are: one patrol lieutenant will become a captain to head the patrol division and supervise investigation -appointed; hire an administrative assistant to the sheriff and chief deputy - appointed; reassign duties of the administrative/patrol lieutenant to supervise patrol, spend more time on the street, fill open shifts that normally would take overtime and patrol-related duties, and fill a vacancy in investigation made when Bob Shoemaker was named chief deputy. The changes will not cause increased demand on the personnel budget, County Administrator Jim Thoreen said. The county may actually see a decrease in expenses, he said. Savings could come from not promoting the deputy who will move into investigation to a sergeant, saving overtime costs and having a patrol lieutenant fill as many shifts as he can. Jail update The commissioners also received more information regarding the Polk County Justice Center in Balsam Lake, Wisc., which the county is expected to contract with for inmate housing starting in May. One snag that has come up is whether or not the general public should be allowed to accompany the board when it tours a jail site. In a written statement, Thoreen said he ìwas surprised this past Wednesday [Jan. 29] that two citizens were permitted to be part of the tour of [the Chisago County] jail.î Thoreen said the board should tour the Polk County jail to get an idea of where Chisago County inmates will be living, but the board would have to figure out the safest and most secure method. He said the board and jail administrators could run into logistical trouble if ì100 citizens demand that they accompany the board to its jail visitation here or in another community.î The stateís open meetings law may prohibit disallowing interested citizens from attending, Thoreen said. He said one solution could be that the whole board attend at one time and invite members of the press as representatives of the people, but no other citizens. Watershed maps presented The board received a volume of compact discs that contain topographic mapping and aerial photography of the Comfort Lake watershed district, which includes parts of southern Chisago County. The mapping project was meant to determine from the air, land and underground how water flows in the Comfort Lake watershed. The next part of the project will be to make hydrologic and hydraulic computer models that can help when engineers come up with plans to deal with potential flooding and how to improve water quality. The models are expected to help Chisago and Washington counties officials when they have to plan for development. ©ECM Post Review |