Last week the county’s preliminary budget was presented, comparing other Minnesota counties with Rice County.
Rice County vs Dakota County 2012
- Per Capita Tax: $294.05 vs $324.68
- Rank: 87 vs 85
- Total levy: $18,860,781 vs $20,825,624 (if Dakota were the same size as Rice)
Keeping our county’s coveted last place in 2012 in comparison with Dakota County was a difference of about $31 per capita. $31 would have brought the $2 million dollars that the county highway engineer estimates is needed annually to rebuild the 350 miles of roads designed in the 1950’s. Or create network connectivity and IT infrastructure to rework the way the county does business in a time of mounting retirements (there are 9 staff openings currently) – building a data-driven operation. It would have kept deputies on patrol from having to work overtime when another was sick, and adequately fund a beleaguered court system that has burned through October’s budget by the end of July, and a host of other improvements.
Just a note…it would not have been needed to fix the social services fiasco and hire four financial service workers. The director of Social Services already had that in his budget with cost shifting. Some things are just “not about the money.”
Kathleen Doran-Norton 
It was a rather grim point when the Northfield News reported last year that Rice County didn’t even have enough money to keep up on its sealcoating schedule. Rice County needn’t mimick Dakota — our neighbor to the north has grossly overbuilt its roads, and its cities seem intent on filling in every farmfield with low-density tract housing. However, you’re right to point out how Rice County could benefit from taxing in a somewhat closer fashion. RC can be proudly rural, and still quite low-tax, and stop skimping on roads, libraries, and other important services.