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Go Green: Check out the latest issue of Ramsey County's Going Green eNewsletter. The latest newsletter includes articles on Radon Action Awareness Month, recycling for homes and businesses, solar power and reducing lead exposure in children. Ramsey County strives to create a healthy, safe environment for all people to live, work and play. Find out what we are doing to go green inside and out by subscribing to the Going Green eNewsletter. You’re also invited to submit article ideas by sending us an email.
Ortega Named Chair of County Board: The Ramsey County Board of Commissioners elected Rafael Ortega as Board Chair at its Jan. 3 organizational meeting. The Board also re-elected Janice Rettman to serve as Board Vice-Chair and as Chair of the Housing and Redevelopment Authority, and Jim McDonough as Chair of the Regional Railroad Authority. The Board also made appointments to county standing committees and outside organizations.
Grants to Help End Youth Homelessness: As colder weather descends on Minnesota, more homeless youth will soon have a warm place to sleep at night and more services available to them. Six community organizations in Hennepin and Ramsey counties will take advantage of grants totaling $4 million over three years from the Otto Bremer Foundation to serve homeless youth.
In early 2012, to ensure homeless youth’s safety and well-being:
- Avenues for Homeless Youth will open five additional beds for homeless youth.
- Catholic Charities’ Hope Street will open 12 additional beds for homeless youth.
- Face to Face’s SafeZone will provide additional case management services for homeless youth.
- The Salvation Army’s Booth Brown House will open 11 additional beds for homeless youth.
- Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota-The StreetWorks Collaborative will hire six additional outreach workers for homeless youth.
- YouthLink will extend drop-in hours at the Youth Opportunity Center to provide intervention services and access to resources for homeless youth, ages 18 to 23, who are accessing emergency beds in adult shelter facilities.
There are 2,500 homeless youth, age 21 and younger, statewide on any given night, and 1,375 in the seven-county metropolitan area on any given night, according to a Wilder Research report. Currently, there are 80 shelter beds for homeless youth in the state, 65 of which are in the Twin Cities area.
“The 11-bed increase in emergency shelter for youth in Ramsey County is simply a gift to our community,” said Carol Zierman, coordinator to End Homelessness in Ramsey County (Heading Home Ramsey). “This represents a 68 percent increase in emergency shelter for youth at a time when need has so dramatically outstripped supply.”
For more information about ending youth homelessness, contact Carol Zierman, coordinator to End Homelessness in Ramsey County, (651) 266-8004.
County Board Approves Leaner 2012 Budget: The Ramsey County Board of Commissioners has approved a 2012 budget of $574,593,256, a reduction of $15,888,171, or 2.7 percent, over 2011. The board also approved a tax levy of $271,794,856 to finance the 2012 budget. The levy vote was 6-1, with Commissioner Janice Rettman voting no.
Despite the spending decrease over the biennium, a small property tax levy increase is required due to reductions in state and federal aid and other revenue, which shifts costs to county funding sources. Property taxes paid for only 36 percent of the County’s budget in 2000, but will pay for 46.5 percent in 2012 and 47.1 percent in 2013.
The proposed 2012 levy represents the lowest annual levy increase in Ramsey County since 2000. The levy for the Regional Railroad Authority will not increase, and no levy is proposed for the Housing & Redevelopment Authority.
Click here for a list of frequently asked questions from the Nov. 28 public hearing and responses from the appropriate county departments.
County Manager's Budget Presentation | Budget Volume I | Budget Volume II | UPDATED Budget Hearing Schedule | Budgeting and Accounting Home
Click here to watch a video created by MPR that explains the state's switch from the Homestead Market Value Credit to the Homestead Market Value Exclusion – and how this will likely affect property taxes next year.
AMC Honors: Two Ramsey County Commissioners were honored at this month’s annual conference of the Association of Minnesota Counties:
- Ramsey County Board Chair Victoria Reinhardt was presented the 2011 Association of Minnesota Counties’ President’s Award for her years of dedicated service and exemplary leadership in county government. 2011 AMC President Duane Bakke, a Fillmore County Commissioner, selected Commissioner Reinhardt for this honor and presented her with the award at the association’s annual conference December 5 in Minneapolis. The prestigious President’s Award is presented to an individual who has a deep history of public service to their community and to their county. Commissioner Reinhardt has been deeply involved with AMC for 15 years, having served on the AMC Board of Directors, as the Environment & Natural Resources Policy Committee Chair, and has participated on host of miscellaneous task forces and committees.
- Ramsey County Commissioner Toni Carter has been elected 2nd Vice President of the Association of Minnesota Counties at AMC’s Annual Conference in Minneapolis. First elected by the voters of District 4 in March 2005, Commissioner Carter is chair of Ramsey County’s Legislative, Human Services and Workforce, and Juvenile Detention Alternatives Stakeholder Committee. Commissioner Carter also serves on the leadership teams of Ramsey County’s Workforce Investment Board, the Saint Paul Children’s Collaborative and the Ramsey County Children’s Mental Health Collaborative. AMC’s 2nd Vice President is a member of the group’s Board of Directors and serves on the Executive and Legislative Steering Committees. The 2nd Vice President also serves as Vice Chairperson of the Annual Conference Planning Committee.
Save More with Less: The Solid Waste Management Coordinating Board, which works to increase the efficiency and environmental effectiveness of the region's solid waste management system, has launched a new campaign, urging residents to “Get Less Today,” as a means of reducing waste. SWMCB is a joint powers board of Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey and Washington counties and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
Have you ever considered that having LESS would actually help you to have MORE? In the Twin Cities metropolitan area, we produce 6 pounds of waste per person each day. That is enough waste to fill Target Field more than 25 times every year. When we reduce the amount of stuff we buy, have and eventually throw away, we end up with more time, more space and more money. By being more conscientious about reducing waste and making a few simple changes, you will see a significant drop in how much waste you are generating each week — you’ll save money on garbage, groceries and household bills. More info
Help is available -- FAST: Families Achieving Success Today (FAST) is multi-disciplinary partnership, funded by Ramsey County Workforce Solutions, to provide integrated and co-located services for Minnesota Family Investment Program participants with an adult or child in the household who has a serious disability. The primary goals of the project are to increase the percentage of participants in paid employment, increase family income and economic stability, and accurately differentiate participants who are highly likely to be approved for SSI from those who will benefit from an integrated set of services focused on employment.
FAST was recently named one of three pilot sites for a federal Department of Health and Human Services and Social Security Administration initiative that will examine the overlap between Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (MFIP is Minnesota’s TANF program) programs and Supplemental Security Income applications, improved screening for SSI, and improved services for TANF families with serious disabilities.
MDRC, a social policy and educational research organization, is under contract with the Administration for Children and Families and Social Security Administration to evaluate programs that are part of this initiative. David Butler, Vice President of the Health and Barriers to Employment Policy Area at MDRC, told the County Board that Ramsey County has a long history of innovation, commitment to evidence based practice, and willingness to participate in evaluation efforts. He also said the federal departments of HHS and SSA are excited about FAST and are considering it as the model for national demonstration projects that would occur depending on early results of the project.
All FAST project services are located in the Midway-Griggs building. Read more about the project here (PDF).
Medicine Collection Sites: Safely dispose of unwanted, expired and unused medicines at Ramsey County’s public drop boxes in Saint Paul or Arden Hills. This new year-round collection program helps prevent crime and protects the environment. Storing these medicines can lead to drug abuse or poisoning, and medicines flushed down the drain or disposed of in the trash can harm the environment. All medicines from households are accepted, including prescription, over-the-counter and pet medicines.
More information | Frequently Asked Questions | Fact Sheet - English | Fact Sheet - Spanish
Public notice: Minnesota state law - Chapter 156 of the Session Laws of 2005 - requires that "a city or county with a population of more than 15,000 must annually notify its residents of the positions and base salaries of its three highest-paid employees." For Ramsey County, titles and annual salaries as of January 1, 2012 are: Psychiatrist - $167,431; Psychiatrist - $156,967; County Manager - $157,181 and Director of Community Human Services - $157,181. Date of publication: 1/6/12.
