Uncertainty…that seems to be a word being used a lot lately when it comes to how government programs and services are going to be funded by the State and Federal governments. As a county government, we are not immune from the uncertainties, as county governments are an extension of the Federal and State governments in delivering mandated services, and many of these programs and services rely on state and federal government revenues.
To put this into perspective, the 2025 annual county operating budget is $55.2 million, of which 53 percent is covered by county property taxes. The remaining 47 percent of revenue comes from a variety of sources, but mainly from the State of Minnesota and U.S. Federal governments. The largest State and Federal revenues the County receive is $12.6 million for roads and $4.5 million for Human Services.
The largest current uncertainty we continue to actively monitor is what the State and Federal governments will do with Human Services funding, which may shift funding responsibilities onto county property taxpayers. When I say “shift” it means those services continue to be legally mandated by the State and Federal governments, but the responsibility to pay those costs now must be picked up by county taxpayers.
The picture will become clearer in the next month or so as the U.S. Congress and the State Legislature starts to make decisions on Human Services funding. Unfortunately, the preliminary proposals all include some forms of cost shifts to counties without any mandate relief. It appears now that it is not “if” these cost shifts will occur, but “how much” the shift will be.
In reviewing the State proposals and estimated financial impact, Le Sueur County taxpayers could be required to pay at least $1.2 million more, which translates to a 4.25 percent levy increase in 2026. To put that into perspective, the entire county levy increase in 2025 for all county operations was 3.9 percent.
Uncertainty is certainly an appropriate word to be used right now. Once the County has certainty about what our State and Federal partners plan to do, the County, as we customarily do, will start putting together our 2026 budget this Summer where we will sort out these cost shifts. We will then assemble a preliminary budget to be approved in September, which will be used to generate estimated property tax statements and then conclude by passing the final budget and levy in December which sets final 2026 property taxes needed to fund operations.
In other news, the key items of County Board business in April included: holding a work session on updating the cannabis ordinance; reviewing quarterly financial reports; approving $2,200 for American Legion and VFW posts for Memorial Day programs; approving receipt of a $62,000 grant to explore Family Resource Networks; placing a ditch assessment on CD45; receiving the annual feedlot report; and approving the purchase of a new mobile command trailer for the Sheriff’s Office.