Residents urge audits and object to levy increase during Stearns County budget hearing

Stearns County opened its required Truth‑in‑Budgeting hearing Dec. 2 and received more than a dozen public comments on the proposed 2026 budget and levy.

Staff presented budget highlights: a proposed total budget of roughly $212 million, a levy increase driven by human services and road construction, a $1 million contingency for state and federal uncertainty in human services programs and a $1.7 million reduction in the debt levy to reserve capacity for the upcoming Justice Center bond. Staff said only about 8% of the road construction budget is paid by the county levy, with the remainder coming from state and federal funds.

During the public comment period, speakers raised repeated requests for audits of Health and Human Services spending and for election procedures. Peter Joseph Wilson asked how often physical audits are performed and urged audits to ensure funds are spent appropriately. Several speakers (including Ronald Holt and James Holt) described apparent inconsistencies in property valuations and expressed concern about property tax burdens. Sandy Clocker and other speakers suggested changing election procedures (one‑day in‑person voting and hand counts) as a cost-saving measure and urged staff to provide more detailed breakdowns of election spending. Multiple speakers linked the proposed jail/justice center and bond financing to the tax increases they opposed.

Board chair closed the hearing after public testimony; no votes incorporating public testimony were taken at that session. Staff set a Dec. 16 deadline for written comments and indicated the board will set its final levy later in December.

Why it matters: The hearing recorded strong public pressure for audits and for transparency on human services and election spending, and highlighted taxpayer concern about the county’s proposed levy and the Justice Center bond.