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<br />Sauk River con't
<br />change the law to grant general
<br />obligation taxing authority to
<br />watershed districts. Since by this
<br />time it was summer and the
<br />Legislature had adjourned,
<br />Mostad decided to pursue the
<br />county option.
<br />Rather than co=signing the loan,
<br />the Stearns County Board
<br />recommended that the watershed
<br />district secure the loan through
<br />ils authority to put special
<br />assessments on property taxes. In
<br />this scenario, any landowner who
<br />received a loan ~~~ould have a
<br />special assessment placed on his
<br />property taxes until the loan was
<br />repaid. Although this seemed
<br />logical, and the watershed
<br />district was willing to take on
<br />the additional paperwork,
<br />it still was not secure ,... Mh.
<br />r.rr.. the
<br />enough to meet the "°
<br />standards necessary to ~`
<br />access the funding. ~""°~_
<br />"About this time, h°r~
<br />anyone in their right
<br />mind would have given
<br />trp, but I was beginning to
<br />get angry with the system
<br />and more determined than ever
<br />to bring the issue to a successful
<br />conclusion," Mostad said.
<br />obtain a favorable bond counsel
<br />opinion--it could begin to use the
<br />SRF money!
<br />Contractors built the first septic
<br />systems in Fall 1996. Since then,
<br />the district has obligated all of
<br />the Big Birch Lake area loan and
<br />grant money for 54 projects, 10
<br />of which. have already been
<br />installed. In addition, the district
<br />in June ] 996 received. a similar
<br />Clean Water Partnership grant/
<br />SRF loan package for work on
<br />Osakis Lake, with S=18,000 in
<br />grant funding and S 183,000 in
<br />loan money. Thy district also
<br />recently secured a grantlSRF
<br />L L.nJe»ner ILOI
<br />a~Plie r.hcJ
<br />Jirtn t(1~D~h~r.l~~.n
<br />euJirer,»h".J.Ir the ~T.,;,~:~--~~~ ~ district• and
<br />,r, ~.he
<br />10. When the landowner
<br />IL~~D rvimhune.. the 2. RDrrt.
<br />PcA
<br />r .,
<br />re} hlirhn LDr
<br />i ~~ p
<br />l pays the property
<br /> P
<br />ee
<br />.
<br />"" eK.
<br /> P"' taxes, the county
<br />ihr LO p.,. the pn. p.r.
<br />' tom, ` !,` -~~
<br />3 LO hir . ir..~ ~r
<br />" audttor sends a
<br />vuJU .r rent. ..he.4 tu
<br />th e ~
<br />--" :,l ~- h,r,heP~,°.; check for the
<br /> ti ;' '.-~
<br />~
<br />' ~
<br />
<br />`
<br />r
<br />~ ~
<br />~
<br />®-
<br />~
<br />"; correct amount to
<br />
<br />f .. ,
<br />t~'j ,n
<br />~ ~ ~.
<br />~
<br />c~~
<br />~ (~ i~~~ ~ J. N h p , r i.
<br />;ni.hJ,LOR..h
<br />ill the watershed
<br />the ~
<br />~ If t', ~~ µ D
<br />»e , pruper _ .e. ~~ 7 f
<br />8. PCA reimhunrr the H D
<br />\ ~ .r KD .P~r., o. PcA her
<br />imhurrcmmt
<br />5, LO ripe. • ..
<br />.. iih µ D .prc<inR ie '
<br />.PMi.i .rrerrme"r ~" m,~
<br />pr„por. mr .
<br />6. N'O n.v. the .....r... ter
<br />combination for the Horseshoe
<br />Chain of Lakes.
<br />Mostad made another appoint-
<br />ment with the Stearns County
<br />Board, enlisting the company of
<br />a PCA staff person and the
<br />watershed district chair and
<br />lawyer. This time, the county
<br />agreed to co-sign the loan,
<br />provided that the watershed
<br />district collect the loan payments
<br />from the landowners through a
<br />special assessment on property
<br />taxes and that it deposit the first
<br />SS,000 it collected in interest
<br />with the county to cover any
<br />delinquent taxes. Finally, the
<br />watershed district was able to
<br />The SRF process that the district
<br />has established works like this:
<br />1. A landowner applies to the
<br />watershed district for a loan;
<br />2. The watershed district estab-
<br />lishes the landowner's proposed
<br />project as a legal watershed!
<br />district project;
<br />3. The landowner hires a con-
<br />tractor to do the project;
<br />4. When the project is finished,
<br />the landowner presents the bill to
<br />5
<br />the watershed district;
<br />S. The landowner signs a con-
<br />tract with the watershed district
<br />agreeing to a speci~~l assessment
<br />on his property taxes;
<br />6. The watershed district pays
<br />the contractor;
<br />7. The watershed district applies
<br />to the PCA for reimbursement;
<br />8. The PCA reimburses the
<br />watershed. district;
<br />9. The watershed district submits .
<br />information on the loan to the
<br />county auditor, who adds the
<br />correct amount onto the
<br />borrower's property taxes;
<br />11: The water-
<br />sheddistrict
<br />reimburses the PCA.
<br />Even better, the district
<br />didn't stop once its own
<br />problems were solved. In 1997,
<br />the district joined forces with
<br />BWSR, the Minnesota Associa-
<br />tion of Watershed Districts and
<br />the PCA to pass special legisla-
<br />tion giving watershed districts
<br />general obligation taxing author-
<br />ity for the purpose of securing
<br />SRF funds only.
<br />"The ~~ ay is now open for every
<br />watershed district in the state to
<br />take advantage of the SRF
<br />money without having to go
<br />through the hassle and the
<br />experience that we went
<br />through," Mostad said.
<br />Sauk River con't page 6
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