WORTHINGTON -- The Worthington City Council on Monday reluctantly approved the county's 2010 assessing service rate of $104,700, but resolved to work with county administration to lower the city's per-parcel rate or seek other assessment options for 2011.
"This really concerns me," said Mayor Alan Oberloh referring to Worthington's average per-parcel fee, which is higher than that of other area municipalities using county assessor services.
Worthington's 4,841 parcels cost an average of $21.63 each, for example, while Luverne (with about half as many parcels) costs $18.42 and Windom runs an average of $12.11 per parcel. According to a city memorandum, county officials did not give any compelling reason for the disparity.
Alderman Mike Woll said the rate represents a 10.4 percent increase during the past two years, "while the total assessor's budget is only going up two-thirds as much as our total cost," he said. "That probably concerns me the most."
City Administrator Craig Clark reported that most other towns in Nobles County use a private assessing service -- that's a measure the council also may consider.
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"I think we're caught right now," Oberloh said. "I'd like to see the towns of this size that are able to go in-house. ... I would advocate for taking a look at doing it in-house."
Clark confirmed that in-house, or private, assessing services can cost more, but council agreed it's an option worth looking into to find the most cost-effective solution.
While alderman Mike Kuhle said the rate should be approved, he added, "I think we need to do more research into this. ... I'm not happy with paying $21.63 per parcel compared to other cities."
The council voted unanimously to approve the rate, which is a decrease from the original proposal of $110,000, but agreed it would explore other options, even giving the county a date by which to submit its rates so city staff would have time to comparison shop for 2011 assessment rates.
In other business, the council on Monday:
- Authorized a statement of interest in the Nobles County All-Hazard Mitigation Plan to ensure eligibility for FEMA funding. The voluntary program allows the city to identify hazards and prioritize projects to mitigate the effects of natural hazards such as tornados.
- Approved a second reading of a proposed ordinance to set the annual storm water utility fee at $212 per residential acre.
- Met in closed session to discuss the Ryan's Road and backage road project.
