The Douglas County Board of Commissioners met in an evening session on Tuesday, December 3. The board meeting at 5 p.m. was followed by a 6 p.m. budget hearing.
At the budget hearing, commissioners set the 2025 levy at $36,081,314.00 The 2025 budget was set at $69,037,559.00. The levy is the amount of property tax revenue needed to fund the budget.
Auditor Treasurer Vicki Doehling began the meeting by sharing the rules and a discussion of thirteen property tax influencers. She made clear the hearing was not designed to answer a person’s questions about their individual property taxes. County Assessor Stacy Honkomp was located outside the meeting room to accommodate people looking for that information. Douglas County Finance Director Jill Frisell provided the following information in her 2025 budget and levy presentation.
Every year counties pass a new budget to cover the costs of crucial services like road maintenance, law enforcement, social services and veterans’ services. She said Douglas County is constantly working to manage service demands with the need to keep levies low and plan for the future in a fiscally responsible way. She then displayed a graph that showed property taxes account for 52 percent of the county’s revenue. The rest comes from transportation sales tax, federal and state grants, aid, and reimbursement of services.
The meeting included an opportunity for public comment. Three residents spoke, sharing their frustration over increased land values and taxes. They also asked commissioners to continue to try to contain costs at the county level.
Following the public comment period, commissioners passed resolutions approving the net budgets of elected officials:
- Sheriff’s Office $11.6 million
- County Attorney: $1.7 million
- Auditor Treasurer $$411,049
- Recorder $122,206
Regular Board Meeting
At the regular board meeting, held before the budget meeting, commissioners appointed an interim county clerk. Lenae Roeser, the current Human Resources and Central Services Assistant, will fill that position. Commissioners approved the minutes from the November 19 regular meeting and the minutes of an emergency board meeting held November 25. The November 25 meeting minutes including the following: The Board of Commissioners in and for the County of Douglas, State of Minnesota, met in Emergency Special Session this 25th day of November 2024. The meeting was called to order at 9:00 a.m. with the following commissioners present: Keith Englund, Charlie Meyer, Jerry Rapp, and Tim Kalina. Absent: Shane Schmidt. A motion was made by Englund, seconded by Kalina, to discontinue the employment of the County Coordinator Director or the County Coordinator Director may voluntarily resign, or we shall terminate her employment as of Monday, November 25, 2024, at 9 a.m. Vote: Yes – Englund, Kalina, Meyer, and Rapp. Absent: Schmidt. Motion carried. A motion was made by Meyer, seconded by Rapp to adjourn the meeting at 9:04 a.m.
Sheriff’s Office
Next on the agenda for the regular December 3 board meeting, commissioners heard from Sheriff Troy Wolbersen who requested an increase in the daily fee for in-county inmates from $35 to $45. This fee applies to sentenced inmates. In addition, he requested an increase to house out-of-county inmates from $75 to $85 per day. Commissioners approved the increase. Sheriff Wolbersen also asked the board to accept what he called a generous $500 donation from Saint Nicholas Catholic Church to be used for the sheriff’s office.
The next regular Douglas County Board meeting will be held Tuesday, December 17 at 9 a.m. in the Administration Building at 821 Cedar Street, Alexandria.