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Scrutiny falls on county EDA
City and county officials met informally, July 13, to discuss the County Economic Development Authority and concluded the hour-long discussion with two options, as summarized by County Board Chairman Butch Miller.
“Dissolve it — let it go away and die a peaceful death — or keep it alive with a tax levy,” Miller said.
At issue is the city of Pipestone’s unofficial secession from the EDA. The city dropped out in early 2007 and has not paid a membership fee since. The city of Holland, as well, has not paid its membership fee in two years, according to Jeannie Swenson, a member of the EDA Board and Mayor of Ihlen.
“If we can’t get Pipestone or Holland to pay, we can’t force (the remaining member cities) to pay,” Swenson said.
The county funds the EDA with $50,000. The rest comes from member cities charged $3.75 per capita, or per person, based upon population counts from the 2000 census.
As the county’s largest city, Pipestone’s membership fee has been the highest — it owes $16,400 in back fees — and its participation pivotal, according to several of the officials present.
“We definitely need the city of Pipestone involved; it’s a major part of the county,” said Bill Johnson, county EDA director.
“It (the city) has to be a financial and emotional player,” said Jim Keyes, county commissioner. Otherwise, Keyes said, “we have to mothball it (the EDA).”
Pipestone Mayor Laurie Ness said the City Council would not likely support a return to the EDA.
“The city already has one (an EDA) and it’s a lot of money (that the city owes in back membership fees),” Ness said.
With cities already not paying, and other cities threatening to do the same, the officials turned to funding.
“We do have an ace in the hole — we can levy for it,” said Les Nath, Jasper mayor and EDA board member. County attorney Jim O’Neal confirmed that the EDA can levy a tax from property owners to fund the EDA, with the approval of the County Board of Commissioners.
The Pipestone County EDA is a not-for-profit economic development authority created by a joint powers agreement between all cities in Pipestone County — except Ruthton and Woodstock — and the Board of County Commissioners.
The purpose of an EDA, in general, is, “to provide government assistance to promote economic growth in distressed areas and in times when growth is dormant or in decline…and to assist in improving work force needs within the business community,” according the Pipestone County EDA Web site, at www.pceda.org.
But several of the officials indicated the value of the county EDA has not been established. Beyond the money issue, “we need to establish the value of the county EDA as a part of the city being a part of it,” Ness said.
Even if the county were to levy taxpayers, the money raised would only fund operating expenses, said Sharon Hanson, county administrator. Hanson, too, returned to the question of the EDA’s value.
“No matter how we get the tax money, what are we buying?” Hanson said. “It’s still a tax and the question for my County Board is: what are we purchasing? What do we get? We need to make that argument to the people.”
EDA board members Swenson and Nath said they would take the tax levy and value discussion to the EDA board when it meets, Thursday, July 16, at 7 p.m. at the Emergency Services Building.
“I guess we have our homework to do,” Nath said.
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