WILLMAR -- A possible settlement over tax assessments between Kandiyohi County and Alliance Pipeline may be near.
On Tuesday, following a closed meeting, the Kandiyohi County Board of Commissioners voted 4-1 to proceed with the final settlement negotiations for reducing tax assessments for the company for 2004 and 2005. Commissioner Richard Larson voted no, saying later that he agreed that negotiations should continue but he "didn't like the figures" for the proposed reduced tax assessments.
Kandiyohi County is one of 13 counties in Minnesota that are involved with a lawsuit involving the Canadian natural gas company.
Alliance filed a lawsuit against each of the counties and the Minnesota Department of Revenue in 2005 and 2006, claiming the tax assessments were too high for property where the pipeline is located.
In Kandiyohi County an existing Alliance Pipeline goes through Edwards, St. Johns, Whitefield, Roseland and Lake Lillian townships, according to Kandiyohi County Assessor Tim Falkum.
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Because Alliance is a utility, Falkum said the Revenue Department sets the values the company pays to the individual counties in property taxes.
The Revenue Department and Minnesota Attorney General's office have been handling the lawsuit, said Kandiyohi County Attorney Boyd Beccue.
Beccue said the state agencies had reached the settlement phase and sought the advice of the individual counties on how to proceed. He said the county could vote to move ahead with the final negotiations or prepare to take the lawsuit to trial in tax court.
Falkum said the commissioners' vote Tuesday signaled their "willingness to abide by the proposed agreement" if the agreement does go forward.
He said Alliance has already paid the original taxes. If the assessments are eventually reduced, Kandiyohi County would have to reimburse the company the difference.
In other action the commissioners:
n Approved a sublease for a 16-bed psychiatric hospital that's expected to be built in Willmar. The Kandiyohi County and City of Willmar Economic Development Commission will own the property and lease it to Kandiyohi County. The county will sublease it to the Minnesota Department of Human Services' State Operated Services to operate a community behavioral health hospital.
n Approved the 2007 budget for the Green Lake Sanitary Sewer and Water District, which includes a 4 percent increase in rates. The commissioners also encouraged the sewer and water district board to reconsider changing its name to reflect expansion of the service to other lakes and communities. The utility board had previously discussed, and vetoed, a name change.
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n Approved assessments to property owners on Lake Florida for a new sanitary sewer system there. The commissioners held a public hearing on the issue last Friday. The media had not been officially notified of the special county board meeting. A clerical error at the Public Works Department was cited as the reason for the notification oversight. Legal notice of the hearing was published as required.
n Agreed to tour Prinsco, a company in Prinsburg, following their board meeting on Dec. 7.
