SHERBURNE COUNTY
SUMMARY FINANCIAL STATEMENT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2020
The purpose of this report is to provide a summary of financial information concerning Sherburne County
for interested citizens. Questions about this report should be directed to Diane Arnold, County Auditor/Treasurer at (763) 765-4363.
A FULL AND COMPLETE COPY OF THE COUNTY FINANCIAL STATEMENT IS AVAILABLE ON OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.CO.SHERBURNE.MN.US OR UPON REQUEST BY CALLING DIANE ARNOLD, OR BY WRITING TO THE COUNTY AUDITOR/TREASURER AT 13880 BUSINESS CENTER DRIVE, SUITE 100, ELK RIVER, MN 55330. A PROFILE OF SHERBURNE COUNTY
COUNTY OFFICIALS TITLE PHONE NUMBER
Barbara Burandt Commissioner District 1 (763) 765-3001 or 1-800-433-5229
Raeanne Danielowski Commissioner District 2 (763) 765-3001 or 1-800-433-5229
Tim Dolan Commissioner District 3 (763) 765-3001 or 1-800-433-5229
Felix Schmiesing Commissioner District 4 (763) 765-3001 or 1-800-433-5229
Lisa A. Fobbe Commissioner District 5 (763) 765-3001 or 1-800-433-5229
Bruce Messelt County Administrator (763) 765-3001 or 1-800-433-5229
Kathleen Heaney County Attorney (763) 765-4725 or 1-800-433-5244
Diane Arnold County Auditor/Treasure (763) 765-4351 or 1-800-438-0576
Michelle Ashe County Recorder (763) 765-4420 or 1-800-719-2826
Joel Brott County Sheriff (763) 765-4000 or 1-800-433-5245
A PROFILE OF SHERBURNE COUNTY
Percent
Total Total Increase
KEY INDICATOR 2020 2019 Decrease
Estimated Population 98,811 97,520 1.32%
Total Assessed Market Value of all
Taxable Property 10,048,613,753 9,350,256,918 7.47%
Percent of Property Taxes Collected
(including delinquent collections) 96.07% 95,48% .59%
Total General Revenues 65,270,567 63,560,648 2.69%
Total Program Revenues 69,341,150 71,011,400 -2.35%
Total Expenses Governmental activities 101,939,433 87,740,790 16.18%
Total Expenses Business-type activities. 14,736,542 16,356,639 -9.90%
Capital Assets - Governmental activities 276,091,189 268,530,009 2.82%
Capital Assets - Business-type activities 18,178,948 18,735,850 -2.97%
Total Outstanding Net Bonded Debt of the 38,614,520 40,171,451 -3.88%
County
Bond Rating on the Most Recent Bond Issue(s) AA+ AA+
Total Government-Wide Net Position
Governmental activities 329,735,766 310,891,335 6.06%
Business-type activities 20,240,767 20,498,529 -1.26%
Total Number of Employees 706 695 1.58%
ECONOMIC CONDITION AND OUTLOOK
Sherburne County continues to grow both from a population and a tax base perspective. The population increased 1.32% from the previous year of 97,520 to 98,811, making Sherburne County the 12th largest County in Minnesota. Countywide residential values have increased approximately 5.65% for taxes payable in 2021, bringing the average residential value to $267,800. New home permits are down slightly (5.32%) compared to the same period in 2019. The County continues to see a number of solar farms that have developed in 2017-2020, and commercial and industrial new construction are ticking upward. County staff continues to look for innovative solutions to control expenses and increase revenues while maintaining services to our residents.
A number of indicators contribute to continued growth and financial stability of the County. The following are some of what we feel to be key indicators.
Key Economic Indicators Amounts Characteristics
2020 Population 98,811 Up 10.69% from the 2011 census of 89,268
2020 Taxable Market Value $10,048,613,753 Up 47.24% from 2011 Taxable Market Value of $6,824,713,000
2020 New Construction $ 154,348,188 Compared to 2011 New Construction of $27,813,000
2020 Tax Parcels 42,466 Up 3.59% from Pay 2011 Tax Parcels of 40,944
2020 Business-Type Parcels 1,583 Up 13.59% from Pay 2011 Business-Type Parcels of 1,394
Due to its relatively dense population outside of - and yet in close proximity to - the Twin Cities metropolitan area, Sherburne County is attractive to businesses that need affordable land and labor costs to expand their operations. Businesses are continuing to choose Sherburne County because of the growing population and access to major highways and the railroad. Commuter rail service continues to provide ridership via the Northstar Corridor rail line, which began operation in November of 2009, linking Big Lake to downtown Minneapolis, with stops in Elk River, Anoka, Ramsey, Coon Rapids, Fridley and Target Field (Minneapolis). Ridership was greatly impacted by business shutdowns and restrictions caused by the COVID 19 pandemic. Ridership on the train in 2019 was at 767,768, compared to 152,455 in 2020 an 80.1% decrease. People from the St. Cloud area can catch the commuter coach, the “Northstar Link”, which includes a stop in Becker, to the Big Lake station to catch the Northstar train to Minneapolis.
This form of transportation has been a great service for Sherburne County residents to utilize in today’s economy.
LONG-TERM FINANCIAL PLANNING
The County Board annually sets goals to establish key priorities. The budget process includes direction to department heads to document savings to be achieved during the year to address any anticipated revenue shortages from the State. The County Board encourages Department Heads to continue to look for ways to re- engineer work processes and services, and/or find alternate methods of cost reduction or revenue enhancement. The County annually updates the Five-Year Capital Improvement Plan, prepared by the Administration department, with inputs from all County departments. The County developed a long-term financial plan and, in 2018, a dashboard was created to allow the County to input “what if” assumptions that can be altered to determine how the assumption would affect the County’s budget. The County has also purchased the OpenGov budget platform software to increase budgeting efficiency and enhance transparency with the public. This will be utilized and implemented for the 2021 Countywide budget.
MAJOR INITIATIVES
Public Works Department and Regional Rail Fund - The County Board approve allocating some of the adopted local option sales tax to Northstar costs, thus reducing the Regional Rail Authority levy to $0 again for 2021 – the net effect of both county levies, therefore is a 3.41% increase. Put another way, the average residential homesteaded property in Sherburne County will see a $3.00 increase/month. For 2010, the average valued residential home increased from $253,500 to $267,800 in Sherburne County.
Providing quality services in a fiscally responsible manner continues to be the mission of Sherburne County. Streamlining business processes through technology improvements was an important theme in 2020. The County Board utilized web-x meetings for residents to be able to listen and/or become part of the monthly meetings. This meeting platform was also used to keep our employees and residents safe as they worked or conducted business with Sherburne County. This is a trend that will likely continue into the future.
See accompanying Notes to Basic Financial Statements.
(Published in the Patriot: 10/09/21).
