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Wright County commissioner urges state fixes for antiquated DHS system, highlights joint tree‑chipping JPA
Summary
Wright County Commissioner Jeanne Holland told Otsego council the county completed a five‑year JPA to buy tree‑chipping equipment to lower city costs and raised concerns about fraud and an antiquated state DHS 'green‑screen' system that increases staff workload and can cause payment errors.
Wright County Commissioner Jeanne Holland updated the City of Otsego council on two county efforts: a five‑year joint powers agreement (JPA) to acquire a tree‑chipping apparatus to reduce municipal chipping costs, and county work to address suspected fraud connected to legacy state systems.
Holland said the county negotiated a JPA that will keep chipping costs from doubling for the next five years and that the county plans to hire a contractor to perform summer chipping and snowplow in winter. She thanked city staff who advocated for the county to proceed.
Holland also described a December Association of Minnesota Counties briefing and a demonstration of the state Department of Human Services’ case‑processing software. "It is a 1990s DOS program," she said, referring to the system’s green‑screen interface, and told the council the software’s limitations can lengthen processing times and create errors — for example, pregnancy benefits that can be paid out for longer than nine months if records aren’t synchronized. She said the county’s HHS staff reported that hiring additional workers could help but that even adding about 12 staffers would not fully close the backlog and would raise staffing costs; the county is seeking bonding and federal assistance rather than increasing property taxes.
Holland said representatives Novotny and Lacero attended recent county meetings and that county leaders plan to press legislators and federal contacts for funding to replace or modernize the system. The commissioner framed the issue as both a fraud‑risk and an operational problem that increases costs for counties and cities.
No formal action by the Otsego council was taken on county requests; the remarks were delivered as part of open forum and the council’s reports and updates.
