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Grand Forks County Commission candidates say finances, infrastructure are top concerns – Grand Forks Herald
GRAND FORKS — The biggest concerns facing Grand Forks County residents often involve county finances and residents’ pocketbooks, according to those seeking seats on the County Commission.
Six candidates are competing for two positions on the commission. The June 11 primary will narrow the field, with the top four vote-getters advancing to the November general election, when the bottom two will be chosen.
On the ballot are Ron Barta, Terry Bjerke, David Engen, Ryan Graf, Kyle Kvamme and Cynthia Pic. Engen and Pic are starters.
All six responded to a recent question from the Herald: What is the main concern facing the Grand Forks County Commission right now?
Their responses ranged from rising costs of living and taxes to less direct – but still financially significant – concerns such as infrastructure projects, affordable housing and business development.
Taxes have been a countywide discussion in recent years, especially in light of a growing list of county projects. In 2022, voters were asked whether they approved granting Grand Forks County home rule status, an autonomy that allows, among other things, greater ability to suggest a sales tax. The proposal narrowly passed — by 18 votes — but a related proposal to move forward with a half-percent sales tax failed by 29 votes.
Revenues from the sales tax – which could only be enacted through a countywide vote – would have helped pay for infrastructure needs. Proponents liked the idea because it would have raised money for projects without having to rely entirely on property tax increases.
Without that sales tax revenue, proponents said, infrastructure needs still exist and will likely have to be paid for in more traditional ways, such as through property taxes.
Engen and Pic supported the autonomy proposal, but the debate also extended beyond the commission.
In its pre-election coverage, the Herald wrote two front-page stories explaining the issue.
Kvamme was cited by the newspaper as a voice of those in favor
of the proposal, while
Bjerke provided the Herald with an opposing view
.
In the weeks leading up to the vote, Bjerke told the Herald he believed the proposal was vaguely worded.
Furthermore, he said, “I don’t lie awake at night worrying that the government doesn’t have enough power and doesn’t have enough money.”
At the time, Kvamme said “the home rule charter would actually give the citizens of Grand Forks County the ability to put items they don’t agree with to a public vote.”
Since then, the county’s infrastructure plans and ways to pay for them have been a topic of conversation among committee members, as well as some of the candidates.
Barta believes that the council’s main concern is “the cost of living due to inflation and taxes charged to our citizens.
“Because we neglected our facilities and failed to protect facilities management funding, we are now incurring large bills that could have been avoided,” said Barta, a federal agency employee who served 23 years before retiring from the Army. “The fiscal impact for our fixed-income and low-income citizens is causing them to make difficult decisions – eat or mortgage/eat or medication. This should not be mandatory.”
Barta also said that he has heard from other people in the county that they may have to move “because they cannot pay the taxes that were imposed over the last year.
“We need to manage expectations and provide leadership to senior management to cut the budget and return tax dollars to our citizens,” he said.
Bjerke, a retired U.S. Postal Service letter carrier who now works part-time as a route driver, responded to the Herald’s question by noting what he sees as “years of fiscal mismanagement.”
This, he said, “coupled with the failure to properly plan and maintain the municipality’s infrastructure, specifically its buildings.”
Bjerke, a former member of the Grand Forks City Council, said he reviewed the county budget and determined that “the county needs to cut spending and come up with a comprehensive capital improvement program.”
Engen, who runs a law firm in Northwood, said “there are always many important concerns facing the county and I can’t pick just one.”
Some examples, he said, are major projects underway — including repairs to the courthouse dome, the expansion of the county jail and a new juvenile detention center, now called the “Juvenile Assessment Center.” Also underway, he noted, is an effort to relocate the Sheriff’s Office.
At the same time, he said, “the budget is always the top priority. We carefully prepare the budget as a group each year, with excellent help from the team.”
And the current commission member and former Northwood City Council member has a message for those who want the county to “stop wasteful spending,” in his words.
“I challenge you to participate in the special meetings – which are always open to the public – and see how the commission does not waste taxpayers’ money,” he said.
Graf, a local government consultant, said he believes the main concern is how the county handles “core responsibilities” without additional property tax increases.
“We need to take a long-term view of our needs and resources to better align the two,” he said. “We may need to scale back to fund some of the needs or delay certain items until financing is available.”
However, he said, “the answer at this point cannot be just to raise taxes.”
Kvamme, a partner at ICON Architectural Group who specializes in K-12 school projects across the state, said business development and affordable housing — especially in communities outside Grand Forks — are his top concerns.
Kvamme, a current City Council member who hopes to move to the commission, said GrandSky’s example could be used in other parts of the county. The business aviation park is located west of Grand Forks, near Grand Forks Air Force Base; it’s a combination of private industry locating on land leased by the county to the Air Force.
“This was accomplished in large part by the county’s support of business owners and the involvement of our highly qualified U.S. legislators,” he said. “Taking this same approach and applying it to agricultural automation and robotics is the next step, and I intend to keep pushing for all the support we can offer.”
Kvamme also mentioned affordable housing.
“I think the county can help by supporting development with pricing guidelines and incentives that are passed on to the homebuyer,” he said. “We can create positive pressure in the market to shift its focus from just the city of Grand Forks to Grand Forks and everything in between. our neighboring communities.”
Pic, who is director of transportation programs at the nonprofit Tri-Valley Opportunity Council Inc., believes the county’s main concern is “finding adequate funding to house all of the county’s mandatory programs in adequate spaces without raising taxes ”.
As commission chair, she has been involved in recent discussions revolving around the city’s request for the Sheriff’s Office to move out of its current space in the Grand Forks Police Department building.
Additionally, she said, rising taxes are a concern “due to rising costs in infrastructure, goods and services. Grand Forks County will need to consider a variety of funding options to house county departments and continue to provide services efficiently and effectively.”