Goodhue County commissioners approved a proposed 2026 fee schedule on a voice vote after a brief public hearing with no members of the public speaking.

Theresa, representing Finance and Taxpayer Services, presented the proposed schedule and said “the proposed changes are in red on the attached, PDF,” flagging several additions and clarifications. The management team recommended an annual review to reduce the number of separate public hearings for fee changes. Theresa told the board the largest new entries in the draft are fees for wind and solar systems and that several court‑service fees were historically charged but not previously listed on the formal fee schedule.

Commissioners discussed whether the newly listed mail‑ballot fee—which Theresa said applies to one jurisdiction in the county—should use tiered pricing to reflect varying jurisdiction voter rolls. The chair suggested researching tiers based on the number of voters so small jurisdictions would not be priced out; Theresa agreed to look into it. Board members noted many fees are controlled by statute and that the county generally tries to set fees to reflect administrative cost.

After the public hearing was opened and closed by motion, the board moved to approve the full 2026 fee schedule as presented and the motion carried by voice vote.

The action puts the new fees and the clarified items onto the county’s official fee schedule; commissioners asked staff to return with additional analysis on mail‑ballot tiers and other implementation details as needed.