The Hubbard County Administrator Jeff Cadwell shared a preview of his upcoming presentation to the Hubbard County Township Association with county commissioners.
On Tuesday, July 15, Cadwell said he was asked to speak about tax-exempt lands that don’t contribute to the county levy.
“That’s true. I did some research,” Caldwell said. “I found the timber generates about $1.4 million a year on 163,000 acres that we manage. We get $1.4 million of PILT (payment in lieu of taxes) payments on 100,000 (state-managed) acres.”
That’s an average of $11.46 per acre on county-managed lands, he said, totaling $2.8 million.
If those 163,000 county-owned, tax-forfeited acres were privately owned and not developed, they would be classified as rural vacant land, Cadwell continued. “Rural land, we get $7.46 per acre” in property taxes.
The “real kicker,” he said, is that $2.8 million in revenue is in addition to the county levy. If the tax-forfeited land were to become private, the county would need to immediately raise the levy by about $4 million to receive the same amount of revenue from timber auctions and PILT, Cadwell said.
“At least in Hubbard County, those 263,000 acres provide recreation and quality of life, and they more than offset the cost of them being exempt,” he concluded.
County commissioner David De La Hunt asked Cadwell to emphasize this is true for undeveloped land, but the Mantrap Township Board didn’t consider the potential private development of lakeshore on Big Mantrap Lake. “It’s a different game then,” De La Hunt said.
In February, two land trusts purchased 431 acres of 3M Wonewok and donated it to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources for a new wildlife management area.
Cadwell agreed. “As vacant land it’s not worth very much. As developed, it certainly is.”
Townships need to do the analysis, De La Hunt said, and not assume that PILT is better.
County commissioner Char Christenson asked Cadwell to point out that PILT is “subjective to the legislators every year.”
No county levy for community center
Christenson said she has attended some of the Park Rapids Area Community Center committee meetings, stating she and Park Rapids City Administrator Angel Weasner made it “very clear” that neither the county nor city would levy for day-to-day operations.
“We would need to proceed with caution, if asked,” she said.
County commissioner Tom Krueger said the Walker Area Community Center relied on donations and has filed for bankruptcy.
Cadwell said, “Community centers rely on some public dollars for operation, whether it’s in kind, cash, discounts.”
He said community centers in Perham, Detroit Lakes and Cook County “all have public support.”
Christenson asked, “How much do you ask from taxpayers?”
De La Hunt agreed. “What’s your priority? Fund your nursing home or community center?”
In other business, the board did this:
- Accepted the $3,131 quote from Pro Print Inc. of Duluth to print 3,000 Hubbard County highway maps.
- Accepted an engagement letter with the Minnesota State Auditor’s Office to conduct the county’s 2024 audit. “It’s the same terms and conditions that we’ve had before,” Cadwell said, adding the county is not at the point of completing its own audit. The cost is based on an hourly rate, he noted.
- Accepted $7,911 quote from Up North Power & Sports for a lawn mower for the solid waste department. The motion passed 4-1, with Krueger opposed.
- Accepted the low quote of $26,556 from Wastequip, of Rosemount, Minn. for two 20-yard roll-off containers and two 40-yard roll-off containers at the south transfer station.
- Approved all surplus items from the county highway and natural resource management departments to be sold by K-BID Online Auctions.
