Cass County commissioners have selected Bob Kangas as chair and Jim Demgen as vice-chair for the 2009 county board. Newly-elected Commissioner Dick Downham and re-elected Commissioner Jeff Peterson were sworn into office.
Chief Financial Officer Larry Wolfe reported the state withheld $336,313 from the county's expected December 2008 financial aids.
This represents $147,333.34 that would have gone to the general fund, $70,930.77 to road and bridge, $107,684.06 to health, human and veterans services, $5,496.36 to the library fund and $4,868.47 to the capital fund.
Administrator Robert Yochum said cost savings in 2008 expenditures from the original budget projection will recover some of the state aid losses. Wolfe said any balance will have to be paid by spending down the county's reserve fund.
Wolfe told the board to plan to lose at least $860,000 from 2009 state program aids. Demgen said the county's state aid loss could run as high as $4 million.
Department heads are submitting this week recommendations on where they might be able to make cuts in their 2009 budgets. The county citizen budget committee will meet Jan. 27 to consider possible 2009 budget cuts from the amount the board certified in December, then will recommend budget changes to the board at the Feb. 3 regular board meeting.
Jan. 6, the board put a hold on ordering any new equipment from the previously approved 2009 $913,855 equipment list and a hold on any replacement hiring to fill vacancies until after Feb. 3.
The board authorized Health, Human and Veterans Services Director Dorothy Opheim to check the merit system roster for possible eligible replacement employees for two vacant positions in the child support collections unit, but tabled until the budget committee report is ready for any authorization to fill those vacancies.
The board selected low bidder Pilot Independent as the county's 2009 legal notice publisher, with Echo Publishing and Pine River Journal to print second additional publications.
The commissioners set regular board meetings to begin at 9 a.m. the first Tuesday of each month at the courthouse in Walker and 9 a.m. the third Tuesday of each month at the land department building in Backus.
Exceptions will be the months of May through September when the board will meet at townships halls throughout the county the third Tuesday each month, beginning at 6 p.m. The December board meetings will be moved from Tuesday to Thursdays, with the board to convene at 2 p.m. Dec. 3 at the courthouse in Walker and at 9 a.m. Dec. 17 at the land department building in Backus.
Locations for evening summer meetings will be announced later.
Among the townships the board expects to visit this summer are Pine Lake, Wilkinson and Trelipe, where the county has short roads they plan to turn back to the townships. A public hearing must be held in the township before the county can transfer a road to that township's ownership.
