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By Dana Kazel
The St. Louis County Board has unanimously approved its 2025 budget at $504,403,199.
The budget supports key investments to ensure delivery of the county's broad range of services, including public safety, roads and bridges, public health and human services and general government while also factoring in significant inflationary impacts. It is the first time the county's budget has topped $500 million.
The 2025 budget also supports employee wages and benefits including the need to sustain the employee medical plan. It reflects increased investment in community programming, and technology and building infrastructure needs, supports economic development activities, incorporates ongoing inflationary impacts, and includes strategic personnel investments in the areas of public safety, adult protection and recruitment and retention.
Commissioner Annie Harala, who chairs the Finance Committee for the Board, highlighted the difficult decisions and strategic investments the County makes in staffing and equipment.
She noted, "I'm proud to put this forward. You hear 'half a billion dollars in a budget' and you wonder what are they doing with that. You need to remember: we have as many road miles as MnDOT District One. We have three courthouses. We are the largest county east of the Mississippi River. These are things that we are both proud of but also requires investment to ensure we have equitable services for people throughout the county."
Approximately a third of the budget is funded by the property tax levy. The final levy was approved at $180,310,863 million, which is a 7.23% increase from this year.
Prior to the budget discussion, the Board, along with Sheriff Gordon Ramsay, took time to honor two longtime public servants for their efforts, which ultimately changed the way underwater recovery work is done. Tom Crossmon has volunteered with the Rescue Squad for nearly 40 years, including 10 years as Captain. Dave Phillips is a retired St. Louis County Undersheriff. Interestingly, Phillips joined the meeting virtually from Nigeria where he is temporarily on assignment utilizing underwater cameras.
Back in 2003, Crossmon and Phillips were among the first in the nation to use a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) for underwater search and recovery efforts. At the time, the underwater cameras with Sonar were largely considered expensive toys. However, the two were trying to find a safer way to search for and recover drowning victims that wouldn't create extra risk for rescue workers.
Despite skepticism by others in the profession, the ROV proved successful the very first time they used it. In a drowning case in another county, divers had been searching unsuccessfully for three weeks. Using the ROV, Crossmon and Phillips located the body within five hours, providing some closure for the victim's family.
Additionally, the Board highlighted recent awards given to Commissioner Paul McDonald; and to attorneys Nick Campanario and Nate Lacoursiere from the County Attorney's Office. They received statewide recognition from two separate organizations for their work following the Supreme Court ruling in Tyler v Hennepin, which determined Minnesota's tax forfeiture laws were unconstitutional. The three, along with Julie Marinucci (former Land Commissioner, now Deputy County Administrator), worked with the legislature to resolve a class action settlement and craft new legislation for handling of tax-forfeited properties.
The Association of Minnesota Counties honored Commissioner McDonald with its President's Award for outstanding service and support. Meanwhile, the Minnesota County Attorney's Association honored Campanario and Lacoursiere, along with Rebecca Holschuh from the Hennepin County Attorney's Office, with its Professional Achievement Award.
Today's meeting was the final Board meeting of the year. The County Board will next meet on January 7, 2025.
