Counties propose sweeping plan to ‘do less with less’

Talk about it

If a plan endorsed last Friday by the board of directors of the Association of Minnesota Counties (AMC) was able to make its way through the legislature, the size of the state highway patrol would be cut in half, counties would take over much of the responsibility for state highway maintenance, and a universal statewide planning and zoning law would be enacted.

An overview of the plan was presented to members of the Carlton County Board on Monday by board chair Marv Bodie, who explained it was an innovative effort by the AMC to figure out ways to “do less with less.”

The 10-point initiative is aimed at ways to redesign how some services are paid for and delivered in order to adapt to increasingly drastic budget cutbacks within the state. In an accompanying memo, the AMC stated the plan came out of the group’s Futures meeting held Feb. 11-12. At that time an “aggressive response” was recommended to address the findings of the legislature’s House Bipartisan Redesign Caucus, which the AMC interpreted as an attempt to “hijack” such redesign efforts.

The working title of the plan is “PACT (Partnership, Accountability, Creativity, Transparency): Renewing the Commitment to Minnesota.” Bodie said the AMC estimates the plan, in its entirety, could result in savings to the State General Fund of up to $645 million, though some of its proposals admittedly could result in increased costs to counties or increased taxes.

Among the plan’s 10 points is a proposal to eliminate county program aid

Tags: carlton county, news, legislative, amc, budget