County board approves levy increase

In a narrow vote that highlighted an ongoing disagreement over how to balance the county's 2011 budget, the Goodhue County Board voted Tuesday to raise next year's levy by $200,000.

Commissioners Dan Rechtzigel, Jim Bryant and Richard Samuelson voted in favor of the preliminary levy, which can be lowered, but not raised when it is certified by the board in December.

Commissioners voting against the measure said even small levy increases will impact Goodhue County residents and businesses facing financial problems of their own. The proposal would raise the county levy by .77 percent next year.

"If the tax structure was stable, then they wouldn't have to worry about higher and higher taxes and find out, in that end, that Goodhue County wasn't the best place to stay and do business," said Commissioner Ted Seifert, who along with Commissioner Ron Allen, voted against the increase.

Supporters of the increase said it was small in comparison to the scale of the budget problems plaguing the county and other government bodies this year.

"Let's put things in perspective a little bit," Rechtzigel said. "We've done a pretty remarkable job watching the public's purse and I think we need to continue to do that."

Look to this Saturday's edition of the R-E for the full story.

Tags: local government, goodhue county board, government, news