1 week Ago By Nathan Bowe
DETROIT LAKES — State-level cuts and unfunded mandates may hit Becker County hard in a number of areas, according to information compiled by Becker County Administrator Carrie Smith.She said this is kind of a “worst-case scenario,” based on the governor’s proposed budget.Here are some examples: The state is looking at a 35% reduction — about $229,000 — in Becker County’s payment-in-lieu-of-taxes, or PILT, funding.
The money compensates the county for state-owned land that was taken off the county's property tax rolls. The county currently receives about $749,000 a year in PILT funding from the state, and faces a total reduction of $261,000, which includes about $32,000 in cuts in PILT payments to townships. Becker County would lose about $1.
1 million in Human Services funding under the worst-case scenario in the governor’s budget proposal. And it would cost Becker County about $1 million to implement the Minnesota African American Family Preservation and Child Welfare Disproportionality Act, but not until it goes into effect in 2027. There is also a proposed 50% reduction in county funding to fight aquatic invasive species, which would cost Becker County about $170,000 a year.
Another $78,000 could be cut from state funding for the Becker County Sentencing to Service inmate work program. Becker County has a dedicated STS crew leader who takes a crew of qualifying jail inmates out to do public work projects around the county. “It’s becoming harder and harder to have an STS crew,” and the program is being used a lot less often around the state than it used to be, Smith said.
“You need a leader.” The launch of the new Minnesota Paid Leave program in 2026 would cost Becker County from $112,000 to about $224,000, depending on whether the county shifts half the cost to its employees. It is allowed to do that under the state law, but that could be an issue with unions representing county employees.
So the bottom line is this: All that worst-case scenario cuts and unfunded mandates would amount to a $2.7 million total impact to the Becker County property tax levy — which would mean an 11% levy increase, on top of any regular levy increase.Of course, it could be worse.
And maybe it will be. “This is what we know so far, there could be more coming,” Smith said. There is talk of state cuts to the Local Government Aid and County Program Aid programs.
Becker County received $1.8 million in County Program Aid funding from the state in 2025 to help with general government operations.Neighboring counties would also feel the loss if County Program Aid is cut.
This year, Otter Tail County got about $3 million, Clay County received $5.7 million, Hubbard County got about $1.3 million and Mahnomen County got about $948,000 from the program.
On the plus side, “we are fortunate we have such great tax capacity compared to other counties in this state,” said Commissioner Barry Nelson, noting that cuts to County Program Aid would still hurt.There is also talk of possible federal cuts to transportation funding, Smith said.All things considered, “it’s going to be a tough budget cycle,” she said.
Minnesota’s budget outlook has been adjusted downward “amid significant near-term economic and fiscal uncertainty,” according to the February forecast from the Minnesota Office of Management and Budget.The state now projects a $3.7 billion general fund surplus for the 2024-2025 biennium, a $456 million surplus for the 2026-2027 biennium, and — here's the kicker — a $6 billion shortfall for the 2028-2029 biennium.
To help solve that, the governor’s proposed budget would increase the 2026-27 surplus to $2.3 billion and shrink the projected 2028-29 deficit to $486 million, but would do so in part by shifting costs to school districts and counties, according to the Minnesota Budget Project.]]>.
