By Sara Quam
With concern for the city of Hills, Rock County Commissioner Wendell Erickson brought up the subject of assessment fees at Tuesday's board meeting.
Erickson said this year's proposed 80-percent increase in assessment fees is unfair to impose on the city at once. Luverne will also see an 80-percent increase.
"I kind of checked my own real estate taxes, and 34 percent goes to the county already. We shouldn't really be assessing cities a portion of that, in my mind," Erickson said.
Commissioner Ron Boyenga said the city of Hills has the option to find another assessor if it doesn't want county services.
Erickson said he would like to see the board implement the fee increase over two years instead of at once.
The actual per-parcel fee of $13.22 is in line with other counties in the area, which average about $10 to $15 per parcel.
County Administrator Kyle Oldre said the increase was set based on costs of assessments and the budget committee's recommendation.
Oldre and Erickson attended the Hills City Council meeting Tuesday night to further discuss the issue with the city.
Hills Councilman Wendell Bengtson said, "We thought we might investigate some private assessors. - We are talking about taxpayers' money, and it's a big jump."
The city will look for private assessors to make sure it is getting the best deal from the county.
Bengtson said he understands how the county came to the large increase for the cities of Luverne and Hills. "It seems that the assessor was working for Luverne and Hills more than the county with all the time he was putting in."