Harvest Grounds Presents a Special Evening with David Meece – Contemporary Christian Music Hall of Famer

and Sheila Raye Charles, daughter of Ray Charles

The benefit concert raised $5,000 for Cambridge Pregnancy Center on April 10, 2010.

2009 Year in Review for Isanti County

Perspectives from Commissioner Duff

As I look back on 2009, I wanted to share some of the accomplishments that were made, as well as reflect on the tasks still before our county.

KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN 2009

 1.       Established a Balanced Budget for 2010

The 2010 budget was very challenging as we had to cut approx. $2M from initial budget requests to balance a budget with no tax levy increases on the tax payers of Isanti County.  Two primary factors for this were a 3% increase in employee salaries per union contracts that were established a few years ago, as well as LGA cuts from the State.  I believe the entire county board and many staff deserve a lot of credit for balancing our budget.

At our preliminary tax levy vote in September, a 1.7% increase was approved that I had voted against (passed 3-1 with Duff opposed and one commissioner absent).  My reasoning was that this was a very challenging time for many to pay increased taxes in the midst of our unemployment and foreclosure problems.  In addition, most neighboring communities also had zero tax increases.  I was pleased that a net zero tax increase for 2010 was passed unanimously by the board on December 28 at the final budget meeting.

 2.      Increased Transparency and Accountability

Below are some of the key steps taken in 2009 to increase transparency and accountability in Isanti County:

 ·         Began audio recording board meetings for the benefit of those who can not attend (over 10,000 hits throughout 2009)

 ·         I hosted 4 town hall meetings in Bradford and Isanti that were attended by over 100 concerned citizens and business leaders (Thanks everyone for your input!)

 ·         2010 will include four night board meetings for those who want to be involved in county government but are unable to make morning meetings

 ·         Stopped an attempt to make EDA meetings private in violation of the Open Meeting Law

SETBACKS

The following are my personal opinions of the bigger setbacks from 2009:

 ·         The Comprehensive Plan was passed with still no completed ordinances

 ·         A County Great Yard Award program was not allowed to go forward after the private sector had already agreed to pay $1,000 in funding support and numerous volunteers established the program scope

 ·         No Roberts Rules established (except for EDA meetings)

PRIORITIES FOR 2010

Below are some of the top priorities for 2010:

 ·         Budget will likely be even more difficult than this past year, requiring us to more proactively plan and manage limited resources, including preparations for providing services without state LGA funds

 ·         Need to establish a Long Term Financial Plan to help guide decisions that are best for the county, both short and long term

 ·         Economic development that brings jobs to our county will continue to be a very high priority

“Duff said he doesn’t believe the role of local government is to support charitable organizations. He said while there are good charitable organizations out there, he doesn’t feel it’s the role of the taxpayers to support them.” 

Isanti County News

September 3, 2008