Townships want a piece of Fine Revenues, but it’s not that simple. Rice County attorney John Fossum had to dig a little deeper for understanding where the requests were coming from. Fossum said there was a recent presentation at a Township Association meeting by a Carver County Attorney who said that towships should receive the fine revenues from convictions for offenses that occurred in their township. Part of the basis for it was that, in the metro area, those townships have populations that are larger than any in Rice Co. and they pay
their Sheriff’s office extra for policing so they want the fine revenue to recapture their costs. Cities are paid a portion as well. Fossum said, “our townships don’t pay anything”. Adding that it’s a fundamentally different situation. He says fine revenue isn’t free money, it is for reimbursement for services. Some Rice Co. townships have expressed interest in getting those dollars.
Nfld to seek Roundabout funding from MnDot
Northfield City staff has been looking at funding options for a roundabout at the intersection of Hwy 246 and Jefferson Pkwy. Notoriously busy twice a day due to the 3 schools in the area, the intersection’s been up for discussion for years. Administrator Ben Martig said they found some funding through MnDot. They would contribute 50{b5761be34e80a16b6d0e4dabc1869c131a263f96a745c82bebdd3b8a4330bfa9} of the dollars but it is a competitive process with other cities going after the same funding. Last week’s Council action was to give the go-ahead to staff to pursue the dollars. City Engineer David Bennett said the total cost is estimated at $2.9 million to cover the roundabout and an underpass under Jefferson Pkwy on the south side. Mayor Pownell said the City’s share would be about $1.5 million and they would use State Aid dollars. The funding would be available in 2021, should MnDot award the dollars to Northfield. Bennett added that MnDot may deem the underpass unnecessary but another possible avenue for funding would be the DNR as it would be part of the Mill Towns Trail.
Dundas small size can reap big benefits
When preparing their yearly budget, Dundas City Administrator John McCarthy says that Council projects out three years. The Aldi store will impact their 2019 budget after the land value is appraised in 2018. McCarthy says that’s why they look out further to project the tax base change. He added that that’s why being small city can be an advantage. It means their tax value is smaller so, a building project like Aldi’s, has a much larger impact on their taxes. McCarthy said the expansion of College City Beverage will come on the tax rolls next year that will further lower their tax rate. It was lowered this year and they expect the same for the next two years. McCarthy’s full interview is on kymn.net.
