(KNOX) – The Grand Forks County commission approved a budget amendment on Tuesday that avoids a 52 percent reduction to the county’s NDSU Extension office’s budget.
County Administrator Tom Ford says the NDSU Extension office was going to be dealing with a much larger reduction than was previously approved, due to an increase in the office’s cost allocation charges from 2026 to 2027.
The Commission approved 30 percent cuts in September to multiple contracted services in order for the county to comply with a statewide three percent cap on property tax levy increases.
If the NDSU Extension office’s budget were to be cut by 52 percent, it would have to cut two full time positions, where there were already planned cuts with a 30 percent reduction. The Extension office plans to hold onto its current full time staff and step pay increases by decreasing its office footprint. The footprint would go 7,500 square feet to 4,800 square feet. The footprint change results in a $40,000 cut in cost allocation charges.
The cost allocation reduction is possible because of revenue that comes from Project ULTRA at GrandSky. This revenue was not accounted for in the 2027 budget, and the $52,000 in ULTRA revenue will offset the $40,000 that will now remain with the NDSU Extension.
The County Commission also says it was told by the Garrison Diversion Conservancy District that it will be reducing its mill levy from one mill to 0.75 mills. The county will now be able to levy $319,055 instead of $425,406 to this organization.
The County Commission has approved accepting a $185,439 subaward that will renew a Vision Zero outreach coordinator position with the Grand Forks County Sheriff’s Office.
The County Commission has also approved to bid for a contract of up to $30,000 for a concrete apron repair at GrandSky. The Commission also approved construction funding aid that will extend electrical service to the GrandSky drone launch and recovery pad. An invoice from Grand Sky Construction Company of $545,393 was also approved by the Commission.
The County Commission has approved a $515,000 federal grant that renews the contract for the county’s Women, Infants and Children Program.
The County Commission has approved the minimum sale prices on county tax title properties. The approval comes after a hearing was held for possible objections. There are eight properties that are listed as being forfeited to the county for taxes, and the property sale will be on November 17th.
The County Commission also approved Operation Green Light. This is a national initiative that honors veterans and raises awareness about veterans services. The initiative will be from November 4th through November 11th.
Meanwhile, the Grand Forks County Human Service Zone’s child protection department should be fully staffed by November 2nd.
Brian Samson is from the Grand Forks Police Department and he started working with child protection. The next hire for the child protection department should be starting the job in November, which would make the department fully staffed.
The board is also advertising that it is looking to hire a new local human resources position. The role will replace a previous position in the county, and there would not be any budget changes when a new hire is announced. The person who gets hired for the local human resources position will help with recruitment, as well as onboarding and offboarding.
There are also some openings for economic assistance, but it has been announced that hiring people to fill those positions are currently being paused until there is the capacity to train new hires.
Economic assistance employees were required this past summer to work overtime in order to handle a backlog of applications regarding food assistance, Medicaid, as well as home energy and family costs. Employees can now volunteer to work up to five hours of overtime.
There have also been an increase in reports of child abuse and neglect across the state since the start of the school year. This has led to an increase in child protection services cases.
Traci Van Beek is the children and family services program administrator and she says there are caseworkers who are handling between 13 to 16 cases. She also says there are more severe cases that have involved law enforcement. She also said they’ve seen more severe cases and an uptick in ones where law enforcement got involved. There could be a need to increase total staff if more cases arise.
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