The Sherburne County Board Tuesday voted 5-0 to increase the wheelage tax from $10 to $20 starting in 2024.
A wheelage tax is added to a vehicle registration fee (license plate tabs) that is paid to the county to provide funding for local transportation projects.
Sherburne County adopted its original $10 tax in 2013, which was implemented starting in 2014.
Tuesday, Public Works Director Andrew Witter told the board why the increase to the maximum $20 is important.
“It is a method to keep our public works levy request minimized and provide an opportunity for a more direct source of funding for our transportation system: roads and bridges,” he said.
The wheelage tax increase is estimated to add about $925,000 to the budget and will allow public works to do an additional 1.5 to two miles of road project every year, said Witter.
Commissioner Andrew Hulse said it is also a more equitable way to cover road maintenance costs. He said the main source of road funding comes from the gasoline tax. But the increasing number of electric vehicles do not pay gasoline taxes.
Park Improvements
The board approved the use of Ash Revenues in the amount of $149,357.36 for Tribal monitoring during the deconstruction of buildings project at the Big Elk Lake Park. The state historic preservation office and the office of the state archaeologist require Tribal monitors and a professional archaeologist to be on site for the duration of the deconstruction project. The next phase includes the deconstruction of eight buildings.
Road Bids
After a highly competitive bidding process, the board awarded the contract to reconstruct Co. Rd. 43 from Hwy. 10 to the Elk River bridge to Douglas-Kerr Underground, LLC at $4,777,566.04.
The project attracted 10 firms, and Douglas-Kerr Underground was the low bidder. Other bidders were: New Look Contracting, Inc. - $4,895,800.65; Landwehr Construction, Inc - $5,112,436.58; Meyer Contracting, Inc. - $5,210,780.35; Duininck, Inc. - $5,243,992.40; Max Steininger, Inc. - $5,354,233.81; Knife River - $5,389,135.82; Park Construction Company - $5,492,343.83 and RL Larson Excavating - $5,492,554.10. The engineer’s estimate was $5,328,844.50.
Awarding of the contract is contingent upon approval and signatures on the Joint Powers Agreement from the City of Big Lake and Big Lake Twp.
Project construction dates will be contracted from Aug. 21, 2023 through Sept. 30, 2024.
Other Business
In other actions the board:
• Approved a liquor license renewal for Getaway Bar LLC for the period of Aug. 19, 2023 to Aug. 18, 2024;
• Approved the purchase of DebtBook Software for the Auditor/Treasurer’s office at a cost of $10,000;
• Approved the issuance of $35,799 in Invasive Species Prevention Program Funds to the Soil & Water Conservation Dist. to assist in the prevention of invasive species within Sherburne County’s Lakes;
• Appointed Mark Knowles as the Haven Twp. alternate to the Planning Advisory Commission from Aug. 17, 2023 to Dec. 31, 2025;
• Accepted $5,514.90 in second quarter donations from various organizations to the HHS Dept.;
• Approved adding a patrol deputy position to the Sheriff’s Office to help fill the need for an additional School Resource Officer (SRO). There will be no impact to the 2023 levy with the addition;
• Approved out-of-state travel expenses for six Sheriff/Jail employees to attend the ProPhoenix Advanced Training in Wisconsin Dells, WI, from Sept. 25 to 28, 2023. Total costs, including $745 registration fee for each attendee, are estimated at $6,090 and will emanate from the Sheriff’s Office Travel, Training & Professional Development budgets;
• Approved the county engineer’s attendance at the 2023 Transportation Alliance Conference, Sept. 18-22, 2023.
