Todd County adopts 2026 fee schedule; board removes parks fee and defers cannabis-specific charge
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Summary
The Todd County Board adopted the county’s 2026 fee schedule on Oct. 21 but removed a parks fee that staff said was included in error and directed staff to continue studying a cannabis-specific permit fee rather than adopt one for 2026.
Todd County commissioners on Oct. 21 adopted the county's 2026 fee schedule to take effect Jan. 1, 2026, while removing an erroneously included parks fee and leaving a decision on any cannabis-specific permit fee for later public review.
Staff told the board a public hearing on the draft fee schedule was held Oct. 7 and that no public comments were received. Administration staff said an item in the packet had been left on the draft in error and recommended deleting the parks fee entry. Separately, staff reported they had included a placeholder line to examine separate fees for adult-use cannabis businesses but recommended eliminating that separate line for 2026 and treating cannabis businesses like other commercial or industrial operations at the county's commercial rate for the year while collecting data on staff costs.
Why it matters: The fee schedule establishes permit and service charges residents and businesses pay for county services. Staff said the intent of treating cannabis businesses under the general commercial rate for 2026 is to allow the county to monitor workload and staff time so it can calculate actual staff costs before considering any cannabis-specific charge for 2027.
What the board did: Commissioners amended the motion to remove the erroneous parks fee entry and formally approved the rest of the 2026 fee schedule while instructing staff to continue gathering information and, if appropriate, reopen a public hearing limited to the cannabis-fee question in the coming year. A commissioner suggested raising the matter with AMC lobbyists and state committees at the upcoming AMC conference to seek clarity on local authority to set cannabis fees.
Details from the discussion: Staff noted the current commercial/industrial building permit rate is $10 per 100 square feet and recommended applying that rate to cannabis businesses for 2026. Board members asked whether the county could set a fee to cover staff costs, and staff said that calculating precise per-permit staff costs will require data from site inspections and the permit-processing experience that the county expects to collect during 2026.
Next steps: Administration will remove the parks fee from the final fee schedule documentation and gather permit-cost data during 2026. The board authorized staff to open a focused public-hearing process on the cannabis fee if additional research supports a separate fee in 2027.
