DEVILS LAKE, N.D. – On Tuesday, March 3, the Ramsey County Commission met in the Commission Meeting Room 8 a.m. at the Ramsey County Courthouse for their regular meeting. Present at the meeting were Commissioners Ed Brown, Jeff Frith, Bill Hodous, Paul Wilhelmi, and Commission Chair Blaine Volk. Also present were County Auditor Kandy Christopherson and State’s Attorney for Ramsey County Daniel Howell.
A large part of the meeting dealt with an initial draft of the proposed Ramsey County Home Rule Charter, which would make certain changes to county governance, to share with and receive input from the community. As currently written, the powers granted to the County Commission from the proposed charter include the following:
- · Allows greater freedom for the Commission in budgeting, relieving some of the allocation requirements imposed on the county by the state and allowing for budgets which accurately represent the unique features and needs of the county.
- · Allows the Commission to request a vote of the people with respect to sales tax implementation within the county, giving the county the ability to more efficiently and serve the needs of the community in the future.
- · Allows the Commission the authority to enact a broader range of ordinances and resolutions, ensuring that Ramsey County can be administered by the regulations which appropriately reflect the needs of the community.
Also, the charter grants the following to the electorate:
- · Allows the people to refer ordinances and resolutions by petition, provided that specific criteria are met, and a vote of the people—giving the electorate the ability to hold the Commission more accountable for the decisions they make on behalf of the people.
- · Allows for individuals and groups to initiate a call for new taxes or ordinances, provided that specific criteria are met, and a vote of the people—giving the electorate the ability to determine what they will fund and by what rules they choose to abide.
All previous agreements with townships, counties, and state/federal agencies will be unaffected by adoption of the charter. All offices currently elected shall remain elected. No changes will be made to the scope or authority of any office of the county. No new sales or property tax will be implemented as a direct result of adopting this charter; additionally, any proposal for a new tax must be voted upon by the people.
State’s Attorney Howell said that the current draft states that proceeds from an approved one-percent sales tax from July 1 of the preceding year through June 30 of the current year would be what goes towards a budget in a year. He added that County Auditor Christopherson had suggested changing the dates of a proposed sales tax to read “revenues raised and collected from Jan. 1 of the preceding year through Dec. 31 of of the current year, shall be used towards the budgetary needs of the public safety departments for the following year,” with which he had no issue.
“Just a reminder, we’re on a tight turnaround here,” Howell said. “If it’s going to be voted on at the primaries in June, this needs to get on the ballot before April 6.”
Howell added that the next regular commission meeting on Tuesday, March 17 would be the last chance to make any changes. “Another special meeting would not be ideal for everybody’s schedule, so I encourage everybody to ask for changes and recommendations today, and the Home Rule Committee and myself will work to get any changes requested back to the Commission.”
Howell added that the initial idea proposed in the charter was that no person be charged sales tax over $50 on any transaction. However, since the current law states that limits cannot be placed on the amount of sales tax, people can apply for anything over $50 to be paid back as a rebate. “As a practical matter, businesses who are making sales that would have (sales) tax over that $50, the private business owner can choose to alleviate that tax burden on the customer and essentially pay off anything over that $50 essentially.”
Howell also stressed that this proposed sales tax in the Home Rule Charter doesn’t apply to large purchases like farming equipment or cars. “Even if it is one percent of it, a $50,000 purchase or $100,000, that could get pretty high,” he said. “But we’re not seeking to have that be the case. The main goal here is to seek to defray the cost to Ramsey County citizens.”
After the meeting, Frith pointed out that businesses could limit their sales tax collection or choose not to charge a sales tax for large ticket items like farm equipment or cars.
During the meeting, Howell said that the focus would include not only people from surrounding counties, but also tourists coming in from out of state, with purchases that go towards lodging, alcohol, and restaurants. “A lot of the things that people come into town and use our infrastructure, use our roads, all those sorts of things that they don’t actually pay into or have any responsibility for.”
Howell also revisited a previous suggestion from Volk about including a sunset provision, so that the proposed charter could be re-voted on by the electorate at a later date. However, the committee felt that such a provision would be an unnecessary complication, and that it would be simpler to undo any proposed sales tax by putting it to a vote of the people at any primary or general election.
“Just to reiterate what we discussed before at our previous meetings is, basically, this Home Rule Charter does not drastically change the way the government operates,” Commissioner Frith said. “It gives us the ability to impose a sales tax, based on the votes of the people, and according to this Home Rule Charter that we have in front of us, is the dedication of that tax revenue goes towards our Public Safety Department budgets within Ramsey County, … so law enforcement (Ramsey County Sheriff’s Department), incarceration (Lake Region Correctional Facility) and prosecution (State’s Attorney Office) are the primary departments that are dedicated towards public safety within our county.”
“Right now, those county budgets are roughly close to $5 million,” Frith added. “It’s estimated that this one percent sales tax, countywide, could generate close to $2 million annually. So, it would almost cut those budgets in half, and those budgets aren’t going to go away anytime soon. They’ll probably continue to increase as population and crime rates increase.”
“So, as costs continue to go up to provide those services, we put that burden on our property tax owners,” Frith said. “Right now, that is the only way that we generate income.”
“The goal here is not to make major changes to the way Ramsey County works, runs itself,” Howell said. “There’s no changes to how the elected offices are elected, no changes to any of the offices. … So, we have thought to do the least restrictive thing here in this proposed Home Rule Charter.”
According to the current draft, any proposal to amend or repeal a home rule charter may not be submitted to the electorate more often than every two years.
The Commission moved to approve the current Home Rule Charter draft, with the suggested changes so that it will be on the ballot during the June primary. The draft will go back to the County’s Home Rule Charter Committee to make the changes suggested by Christopherson regarding the changes in the dates.
Frith said as a reminder that three County Commission seats are open for election during the June primary election and encouraged interested residents to put together their petitions; each would require 73 signatures and must be submitted by 4 p.m. on April 6 to be eligible. After the primary in June, six can run for the general election in November.
The Commission also reviewed possible locations for the new Law Enforcement Center, met with County Recorder Bev Bachmeier to review the Plat Cabinet, then with County Highway Superintendent Jason Kraft and John Martinson, chairman of the County Water Resource District Board.
The next regular meeting of the County Commission will take place on Tuesday, March 17 at 5:30 p.m.
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