After a 20-minue discussion Tuesday, the Sherburne County Board adopted the 2026 preliminary levy at $66,842,284.
That represents a 6.49% increase over the 2025 levy, and none of the commissioners were happy about the increase.
Administrator Bruce Messelt gave a brief explanation about what went into the increase.
“We’re seeing upward pressure on personnel costs, insurance and inflationary activity,” he said. “And we have to continue to address mandated services and the growth in population.”
There have been staff reductions in the budget that cut total staff by 6.41 FTE (fulltime employees). But cost shifts for unfunded mandated services put a big burden on the county. Cost shifts alone represent an additional $884,000, or 1.38% of the budget.
The commissioners said they understood there was a great effort by department heads and staff to trim as much as they could.
“I’m very proud of the effort. but the results do not make me happy,” said Commissioner Gregg Felber. “It is what we are being forced to do by the full set of circumstances that are involved in setting the budget and trying to make sure we’re still giving appropriate service to county residents.”
Commissioner Raeanne Danielowski had a similar sentiment.
“Ultimately we have to be sure that we are always very clear how we got here, and it’s because the state decided to balance their budget on the backs of our property tax payers - plain and simple.”
The preliminary levy set during the meeting can be reduced, but not increased for the final levy in December. Messelt said next year there will likely be a similar issue because some of the cost shifts to the county have been deferred for 2026.
AI Projects
The board approved the acquisition and utilization of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tools EVA and Data Depot to improve efficiencies in the HHS Dept. because of an extreme backlog of calls and the large increase of questions coming into the agency related to health care and public assistance.
EVA is an AI tool through TipCo that has been presented at AMC webinars/meetings. It streamlines and condenses policy and processing information from DHS, automates phone inquiries and takes changes in the circumstances of applications and uploads it to eligibility platforms.
Data Depot is a county-driven, standardized data integration model that builds upon existing county access to state data while streamlining, ensuring consistency and reducing duplication of effort.
The cost for EVA from October through the end of 2025 is $30,000. It will cost $87,000 for 2026.
Data Depot will cost $27,000 for 2026. Costs for both projects will be paid for through the Health Care Unwinding allotment that was given to Sherburne County by the State of Minnesota for the next two years.
Recycling Waiver
The board passed a resolution granting a waiver from certain sections of the Solid Waste Ordinance for B&E Recycling Station, Inc. in Elk River. B&E operates a processing facility for the purpose of recycling solid waste materials as allowed by the county’s Solid Waste Management Ordinance and County License. The company is requesting to modify their license to allow additional storage of junk vehicles. This waiver allows B&E to store up to 20 vehicles and limit them to removal of only tires, rims, batteries, and catalytic converters for purposes of recycling.
The board subsequently approved a modified Solid Waste License for the company.
SCORE Funding
The board approved $5,853.56 in additional SCORE funding reimbursement to cities and townships that incurred additional expenses during their scheduled 2025 Recycling Day events. Additional reimbursements are as follows: Baldwin City $1,295.56; Big Lake City $129.67; Big Lake Twp. $257.28; Haven Twp. $1,236.91; Orrock Twp. $2,602.27; Santiago Twp. $131.87.
Other Business
In other actions the board:
• Set a public hearing for Oct. 7 to consider possible changes to the Sherburne County All Services and Fee Schedule for 2026;
• Set a public hearing for Oct. 21, to consider proposed changes to the Sherburne County Tobacco Ordinance;
• Approved the final contract payment of $19,054.76 to Redstone Construction, LLC for the 2024 Co. Rd. 4 bridge replacement. The final contract amount is $1,472,845.89;
• Approved the Residential Preliminary Standard Plat of “Wind Dancer Estates” consisting of 14 lots on 42.62 acres on 238th Ave. NW and 112th Street in Livonia Twp.;
• Approved an Interim Use Permit (IUP) for a Medium Contractor’s Yard on 44.96 acres on 112th Street NW in Livonia Twp.;
• Approved Conditional Use Permit (CUP) for a Farm Related Business (repair and maintenance of farm-related equipment) on 31.46 acres on 72nd Street SE in Clear Lake Twp.
