Dumping on counties is no way to run a government
By Paul Wilson | Olmsted County

Lately, it has become an annual ritual. After three or four months of agonizing over the reality of a serious budget deficit, Minnesota lawmakers and the governor spring into action, and while most of us are sleeping (or not allowed in the room), the budget is “balanced.”

The next day, pats on the back are all around and an “isn’t it wonderful” feeling of relief permeates the Capitol corridors.
I’ve got news for them: Back home, we don’t celebrate the fact that those responsible for balancing the state’s budget continue to heap piles of their “shortfalls” on Minnesota’s counties and at the same time tie our hands by limiting our ability to pay for what are truly state functions.

The most recent examples of the state’s abuse of power came when, without warning, counties were strapped with financing two important but clearly state functions: housing short-term state offenders in county jails and paying for some public defender services.

In 2003, Gov. Tim Pawlenty signed a bill that made counties responsible for housing in county jails the so-called “short-term offenders.” The cost to counties to house one of these prisoners is over $55 a day. But don’t you know that this year, in an effort to “balance” the state’s budget, the Legislature reduced the state’s reimbursement to counties for each prisoner, to less than $10 per day?

Little surprise as to where the $45 difference must come from: either local property taxes, or because the state now limits our ability to levy taxes, more likely from cutting an essential county service such as road maintenance.

Another example is that as a result of the Legislature’s cut in funding to public defenders, counties now have to pick up the cost of funding legal services for adults in child protection cases. That nifty little shift of responsibility will cost property taxpayers $5 million to $6 million in addition to another $6 million for the housing of state prisoners.

As county commissioners, we take our oath of office seriously and vote for budgets that respect the delicate balance between the needs of the community and its ability to fund services to meet those needs. It seems to me that we should expect the same from our state leaders.

These are core state functions, and for them to not face up to their constitutional duties with integrity and transparency is no way to run a government.

Minnesota is unquestionably facing some tough times, but county leaders are both qualified and prepared to work with the governor and the Legislature to meet those challenges.

Wilson is an Olmsted County commissioner and the president of the Association of Minnesota Counties.

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