Cook County to receive increase in federal funds for BWCAW, CIP bond sale arranged
The Cook County Board of Commissioners meeting on March 12 included agenda items ranging from the ongoing job updates from the Human Resources department, to additional training for the commissioners and department leaders. Amidst the board’s usual business, however, they received two pieces of good financial news.
The meeting began with the results of the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) and abatement bond sale. County Administrator James Joerke told WTIP that not only does the county have a good bond rating, allowing it to arrange for better interest rates when borrowing, but that this particular sale was successful.
He said, “The sale should be finalized by the end of March, and at that point, we’ll have access to the funds to begin implementation of the deferred maintenance projects.”
While the county prepares to address the deferred maintenance projects on the CIP list, it is also working with BKV Group, an architectural firm out of the Twin Cities to draft preliminary plans for the proposed Justice Center. Joerke said that the group has been meeting with departments that would be housed in the new building to establish the county’s needs.
The other good news delivered at this most recent board meeting focused on the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW). Joerke explained that every 10 years the area is valued by the USDA to determine a Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) amount. PILT payments are designed to assist local governments when property taxes cannot be collected on some land, like protected conservation areas.
Joerke said the assessment that took place in 2018 reduced the estimated value of the BWCAW, which meant that the counties receiving PILT payments for the BWCAW, Cook, Lake, and St. Louis Counties, were receiving significantly less. For Cook County, that meant the payment falling from about $1.9 million based on the 2008 assessment, to $1.3 million based on the 2018 assessment.
The three counties contested the estimate, and last week, the Secretary of Agriculture notified the counties that the assessment would be adjusted. Joerke said that they have not gotten an exact number from the Secretary of Agriculture, yet, but that the official value should be about 90% of the assessed value from 2008, which would make payments to cook county roughly $1.7 million, annually.
PILT payments go into the general fund, and according to Joerke, can be used for items like funding capital improvements, or decreasing the yearly levy. While the specific uses for the money are still to be determined, Joerke said, “Bottom line is it’s really, really good news for the county.”
WTIP’s Kirsten Wisniewski spoke with Cook County Administrator James Joerke following the March 12 meeting of the Board of Commissioners. Audio from that interview is below.
Kirsten Wisniewski March 14, 2024
