Isanti County board advances capital improvement plan planning, proposes reserve policy change and seeks bids for urgent jail work

Isanti County commissioners spent the bulk of the meeting refining a proposed capital improvement plan (CIP), discussing a recommended change to the county fund balance policy and its implications for the 2026 budget and levy. Staff recommended adjusting the fund balance target from 30–50% to 30–45% and moving the excess five percentage points into a new capital projects fund, with a suggested minimum capital-fund target of roughly $2.2 million.

Amanda, the county administrator leading the CIP discussion, told commissioners the goal was to finalize the CIP document, prioritize departmental requests and craft a capital fund so the board could adopt a CIP and a resolution at the December meeting. "If the general fund balance is already at 45% … then anything over 45% would go into the capital fund," she said, describing the proposed policy mechanism.

Why it matters: the proposed change would formalize a steady, policy-driven transfer from general reserves into a capital fund intended to pay for multi-year infrastructure, equipment and technology projects. Commissioners discussed how using fund balance this way affects levy calculations and whether removing capital purchases from the levy could lower the proposed levy rate. Staff said preliminary adjustments and personnel changes already moved the levy estimate closer to 5.35% from a prior 5.74% projection.

Key priorities and cost estimates: commissioners and department heads reviewed the CIP item list totaling about $1.6 million for urgent and necessary projects; highway projects, a government center parking lot (sized at $500,000 in the list) and IT/server replacements are among items under consideration. The highway department noted wheelage (vehicle license) tax revenue historically offsets roughly $400,000–$430,000 annually in fleet purchases, but staff said those earmarks had been shifted in some proposed budget lines.

The board also focused on the county jail and sheriff’s office: one commissioner outlined wiring, drainage and safety problems in the older portion of the jail that prevent adding cameras and call buttons. The commissioner urged the board not to ‘‘band-aid’’ repairs; staff estimated rewiring and related safety work could be on the order of $1,000,000 as a ballpark figure, and commissioners asked staff to solicit three contractor estimates and return with an averaged number for budgeting.

Budget timeline and next steps: staff said the truth-in-taxation meeting next week is when the board should present the final budget for the levy; pending no late funding changes, that is the budget the board intends to approve. Commissioners asked staff to prepare clearer numbers (what items are levy-funded versus paid from reserves or the new capital fund), add a column showing which items were previously in the levy, and provide ballpark bid averages for urgent items (including jail rewiring) to support CIP prioritization.

What was not decided: The board did not adopt the reserve policy change or the capital fund resolution at this meeting; the discussion produced direction to staff to prepare numbers and estimates for the next meeting, not a final vote. Commissioners stressed the need to preserve adequate reserves while funding capital priorities.

The county will continue CIP and budget review at the next board meeting and at the scheduled truth-in-taxation hearing.