Becker County finalizing 2024 budget, property tax levy; county board expected to vote on budget Sept. 19

Detroit Lakes, Minn. (KDLM) – Becker County Administrator Pat Oman updated members of the county board on the budget process during their meeting on Tuesday.

Oman said he expects to present a preliminary property tax levy during the board’s next meeting on Sept. 19.

“We spent about a month with department heads completing their preliminary budgets and that was a series of one-on-one meetings,” said Oman. “We are at the point that we are doing department head committee review over the last month … and we’ve got another two weeks before we set the preliminary levy. So this week and next week will be very important to solidify where our budget is at and where our increases are at and get on final review with our courthouse committee and finance committee.”

He also said it should come as no surprise the cost of wages and benefits have increased over the last year, but he’s hopeful the final numbers will come in lower, similar to last year.

“Obviously, one of the big things that is not a surprise is the increase in wages county-wide and that is a typical thing that every county is experiencing,” he said. “Benefits as well. We hope and expect that we’ll have a much more favorable review with benefits as well, but we are budgeting for a 3% increase. But we hope we are pleasantly surprised.”

Currently, the budget includes funds for an additional full-time, assistant county attorney for 2024. Becker County will also use some one-time funds from cash reserves to cover the cost of additional election workers to assist the auditor-treasurer with the 2024 election.

Barry Nelson, chair of the Becker County Board, said he hopes to keep the levy under a 5% increase for the upcoming year.