The Sherburne County Board of Commissioners Tuesday approved a 2.39% salary increase for its four elected officials: Sheriff Joel Brott, County Attorney Kathleen Heaney, Auditor/Treasurer Diane Arnold and Recorder Michelle Ashe in 2022. The vote came as part of the consent agenda in the year’s final regular board meeting of 2021.

A year ago, the officials requested to delay a decision regarding any salary adjustment for 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on county business and its residents. That vote finally took place at the January 19, 2021 meeting when the officials were given a 2.5% increase, which was equal to the increase recommended for all county employees.

Tuesday’s decision was based on a number of criteria, including compensation equity, the ability of each official to maintain their respective county office’s budget, the impact to the county budget as a whole, and the impact on the levy in their request. It also reflected each official’s qualifications, experience and performance,  the complexity and scope of their duties and responsibilities, and number and type of staff supervised.

The 2.39% hike results in the following increases: sheriff,  $169,141.40 to $173,183.88, county attorney $168,894.37 to $172,930.95, auditor - treasurer $125,355.45 to $128,351.45, recorder $111,179.67 to $113,835.84.

The 2.39% increase is the same percentage calculated for Sherburne County’s Commissioners for 2022. With that hike, their salaries will increase from $53,720 to $55,004 in 2022.

2022 Tax Levy 

The board approved the 2022 tax levy during the final meeting of the year Tuesday.

The levy stands at $54,889.085, which is a 4.86% increase over the 2021 levy. But it is $51,000 lower than numbers presented at the Dec. 2 Truth in Taxation hearing.

Assistant Administrator Dan Weber said even with the levy increase, the county tax rate will still see a reduction due to the increase of the county’s tax base, which grew 9.5% along with a population increase of 9.8 since 2010. New home permits have continued to grow, from 83 in 2010 to 455 in 2020. The county also saw about $160 million of new construction projects added to the tax rolls for 2022.

Because of those numbers, the impact on the average homestead property would have decreased if the taxable value remained the same. But since the average valuation has increased about 7.3%, the impact will be about $8 per month on the average residential homestead property in the county.

And because of funds the county collects from the Local Option Sales Tax, the board also approved a $0 increase in the Regional Rail Authority Levy.

The board passed the 2022 budget in the amount of $115,156,845, up 11% from the 2021 budget.

The breakdown of expenditures is as follows: General Revenue Fund - $48,713,667;  County Parks - $3,696,294; Library Fund - $1,360,295; Public Works -  $28,892,694; Health & Human Services - $27,528,831;  Youth Non-Detention -  $580,000; Debt Service - $ 2,783,538; Land & Building -  $80,000; Regional Rail Authority - $1,521,526.

Bus, rail agreements

The board approved the 2022 master funding and annual operating grant agreement with Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority, Stearns County Regional Railroad Authority and St. Cloud Metropolitan Transit Commission for the Northstar Link Commuter Bus. Sherburne County’s share for 2022 is $42,449, which is $10,612.25 higher than 2021 because Anoka County is no longer sharing funding for the operations.

The board also approved the 2022 Subordinate Funding Agreement with the Met Council for the Northstar Commuter Rail. 

In 2021, federal funds were allocated to the Met Council to offset losses incurred by Northstar due to the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic and response, said Public Works Director Andrew Witter. The Met Council reduced the county’s 2021 cost by approximately 50%. The proposed 2022 expense represents an approximate 25% reduction over normal annual costs, based upon the Met Council’s anticipated continued use of available federal funds to offset losses due to the ongoing pandemic. Sherburne County’s operations share for 2022 is $1,073,433.