June 16, 2026 Goodhue County Board Meeting Observer Notes

Present: Brad Anderson, Scott Arneson, Andrea Benck, Susan Betcher, Linda Flanders, Todd Greseth, Jason Majerus, and Stephen O’Keefe.

Special presentation by Minnesota State Representative (19A), Keith Allen

Keith thanked our county board members for their advocacy at the State Capitol, especially regarding rising property taxes and the need for an updated computer system. He gave highlights about the creation of the Office of the Inspector General to add teeth to fraud investigations. Brad said that he had watched many hearings regarding fraud and heard discussion about reacting to fraud, but no discussion about how to be proactive to prevent fraud. He said he takes no joy in simply reacting. Keith said that there will be anonymous whistleblower protection. The new Office of the Inspector General office will also be able to have more ability to recover money from those who commit fraud (greater access to their property, etc.). Brad also asked if a there was a more direct way to fund projects that doesn’t involve so much paperwork and staff time (big budget item that is hard to predict). Keith said the state needs to do a better job of making sure we know how much a project will cost so that overruns do not happen (i.e., doubling costs).

HHS Modernization (outdated computer systems have caused significant delays for employees throughout the state to do their work efficiently and were a priority to update). Linda Flanders thanked Keith and Brad Anderson for their efforts regarding technology modernization. Keith also indicated that significant funding has been added for infrastructure development (bonding and capital investment). For HCMC, county hospitals throughout the state have sent patients to HCMC if they didn’t have a way to pay for their health care. Now medical professionals will decide who will be sent to HCMC, not people who don’t have that expertise. A school bus bill indicates that drivers will have to stop if red lights are flashing on the bus. Some bus drivers have driven fast when the arm is out without lights- that cannot happen now.

Landowner Agreement Addendum for the Wanamingo Demolition Landfill Site
The intent of the request by the new owner of the 70 acre land is to separate the property into a residential/farm section with the creation of an LLC for the landfill portion. Discussion was about the logistics of access by both the county and landowner according to the map shown at the meeting based on survey results. There was also a question about whether the property owner needs to carry insurance on the landfill property or whether the county will need to carry insurance. Brad pointed out that he didn’t see any information about insurance. After much discussion, these are the main points: 1) The current 5 year agreement expires on January 1, 2027. The Board decided to approve the request to create an LLC for the landfill portion of the property and to fine tune some items before the new agreement needs to be signed by January 1st (clarify insurance, easement access by the county and landowner, more accurate description map based on survey results, and if anything would change if the LLC landfill portion was sold in the future). There is always some risk related to landfills. Susan asked if there would be any change in risk to county residents by approving the LLC request. Stephen O’Keefe said the level of risk is unlikely to change.

Lower-Potency Hemp Edible Retail Registration Application – Tilion Brewing Company LLC

Megan Smith, Land Use Management Director, said the intent of this request was to remove the 1000 foot spacing requirement for low potency hemp edible sales. In small communities, this rule could limit sales to the first seller (i.e., gas station) without any opportunity for other sellers because of the small size of the community. There was no public comment and the motion carried unanimously.

2025 Financial Statement Audit Results and Additional Item

Doug Post, Auditor, gave the 2025 Audit report. The county is in a very strong position. There is a slight increase in revenues do to property tax revenues. There have been no significant deficiencies during 2023, 2024, and 2025. He said that is unusual in a positive way and congratulated the board for their financial management. There was a deficiency in Medicaid verification for Medical Assistance because of state grants for Medicaid that have been affected by federal cuts to Medicaid. There has been good cooperation on resolving these issues.

Lucas Dahling’s office is in charge of expenditures and has good checks and balances. For some offices in the county that might have only one staff person colleting money, there isn’t the same built-in set of checks and balances as in a larger office with many staff members.

Doug said fund balances need to include emergency funding. He said Goodhue County has 11.1 months available in the unrestricted fund balance. The audit is based on 2025. We are now half way through 2026, so the fund balance reflected in the audit doesn’t reflect our unrestricted fund balance, so this audit would not be used for current budgeting. The annual audit is useful for comparison with other annual audits, however.

SEMMCHRA- Housing Trust Fund Recommendation
Stephen O’Keefe said there were 5 applications for the Housing Trust Fund. Four of the five were approved. He said the fifth application had merit, but they needed to wait until a project was actually ready for development in Kenyon, so this item was deferred.

In regard to funding that was granted to a HUD project that needed maintenance money to improve the property, Linda made the point that HUD was supposed to keep up with capital needs of its properties. Why should the county be responsible to spend money on property that is supposed to be managed by another entity? That is a big drain on our resources. Inherent in initial funding is a lack of ongoing money for capital needs, so many projects like schools, housing projects, etc. that are supposed to be equally matched by state and federal funding fall into disrepair when state and federal funding don’t keep up. Capital needs fall billions of dollars behind. Public housing is not allowed to take on a mortgage. Linda commented that this is not sustainable. Counties are hit hard by these unexpected needs. No good answer for that ongoing problem.

June 9 Budget Committee Report
Recommendation to freeze outside agencies for 2026. For some agencies, this means that keeping the budget flat might include more money than they actually requested for 2026. This is just a report, no motion required at this time. Agreement to postpone the last item (USDA).

The meeting adjourned a little around 10:35.