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Commissioners debate $30,000 lobbyist contract as budget and state cost shifts loom
Summary
County administrator Tom Zemmer confirmed the county’s lobbyist contract is $30,000 per year; commissioners expressed skepticism about renewing that contract given state-level cost-shift risks and strong advocacy from local legislators, and the board signaled consensus to remove the item from the upcoming budget.
Beltrami County commissioners discussed the county’s $30,000 annual lobbyist contract during a broader budget-update conversation and signaled they will remove the contract from next year’s proposed budget pending further review.
County administrator Tom Zemmer told the board the contract is $30,000 for the year and that most work occurs during the legislative session, though the firm remains under contract to represent the county year-round. He also said Eric Simonson is no longer with the firm and that the county expects a replacement or another firm representative to present at an upcoming meeting.
Commissioner Sumner and Commissioner Carlson questioned the value of paying a lobbyist when local legislators are actively advocating for the county. Carlson said Representative Duran, Senator Steve Green and Representative Bliss have been ‘‘outstanding’’ advocates and said she does not favor continuing the paid contract. Sumner said the county might rely on local representatives and AMC-level advocacy instead of a separate lobbyist and raised the point that much of the contract is already paid for the year.
Tom Zemmer said the county could remove the lobbyist contract from the budget now to avoid presenting it to the budget committee and rework allocations accordingly. Commissioners discussed the county’s exposure to state and federal cost shifts—Zemmer cautioned the board that reductions in SNAP or Medicaid reimbursement could shift costs to counties and that the county may need contingency funds in the budget to respond.
Board members indicated agreement to pull the lobbyist contract from the proposed budget; no formal roll-call vote was recorded in the transcript. Zemmer said staff would proceed with rebalancing the budget materials for the committee based on that direction.
