The City of Northfield set their preliminary levy at 8.5{b5761be34e80a16b6d0e4dabc1869c131a263f96a745c82bebdd3b8a4330bfa9} for 2018. That’s over 6{b5761be34e80a16b6d0e4dabc1869c131a263f96a745c82bebdd3b8a4330bfa9} higher than the last several years. Councilor Peterson White said that she’s worked on property tax decision making for a very long time and said that the 8 or “whatever that number shakes out to be” isn’t how much your individual property tax bill will increase. It depends on the valuation of your property. If you have questions, she invites the public to contact her. All your representatives emails are on the City’s website. She said they don’t want to overburden the taxpayers but
she gets a lot of calls regarding the desire for improvement and maintenance in our City parks and the Police Chief says, over the next few years, they’ll be needing personnel and possibly body cameras. She and Councilor Ness mentioned the pay equity study wherein Northfield was about 6.5{b5761be34e80a16b6d0e4dabc1869c131a263f96a745c82bebdd3b8a4330bfa9} below similar cities. Northfield has already increased wages. Preliminary levies can go down but not up. The final levy will be set in December.
Special Election and School Referendum votes on Nov 7
Another reminder that there’s a Special Election on Tuesday in the City of Northfield to elect a candidate to fill a one-year council member at-large term. There are also two Northfield School District referendum questions on the ballot including a $2 million operating levy and a $109 bond referendum. Polls are open 7 am – 8 pm. Go to the City of Northfield website to find out where you vote. I have a sample ballot online. You can also find candidate interviews and a forum on our website. For School District information go to northfieldschools.org. Vote and let your voice be heard. City Clerk Deb Little will be in studio Monday morning at 8:45am. More information: HOW TO VOTE LOCAL (1)
Sheriff says “falls from deer stands” number one in hunter injuries
Deer opener is this weekend! As a hunter, Rice County Sheriff Troy Dunn looks forward to it every year. As the Sheriff he sees the downside; hunters who trespass on someone’s property, those not hunting safely and shoot themselves or someone else but the “biggest injury from hunting is usually falls from the stands”. He said 6am on Opener morning is NOT the time to check your deer stand. He stressed to hunters to know where you’re shooting, know where your hunting partners are and tells those who are NOT hunting to also wear blaze orange in the woods or stay out of hunting areas. Another reminder is to tell friends or family WHERE you’re hunting and when you expect to be back. Dunn said in the last few years, they had two situations where the hunter informed someone and then suffered a broken leg after falling and the other had a heart attack. If you shoot a deer and it runs onto someone else’s property, don’t go after it unless you have permission. Call the DNR or the Sheriff’s department.
“Hit the animal”
Deer hunting coincides with deer hitting. Sheriff Dunn said they’re averaging 3 car/deer crashes a night. His advice, “hit the squirrel, hit the raccoon, hit the turkey, hit the deer, whatever it may be, you’re chances of injuries are less hitting that and staying on the road than it is if you go off road”. Swerving to avoid the animal can put you right into the ditch. The chances are very slim that a deer would come through your windshield.
