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Quad‑county Extension funding talks begin after Sterns signals contribution cut
Summary
Morrison County officials heard that Sterns County intends to reduce its share of the Quad‑County Extension agreement (reported as a change from ~2.2 FTE to 1.55 FTE), prompting discussion of options including dropping from four educators to three or creating part‑time specialist support; administrators will gather data and return with proposals for 2027.
Administrator LeBlanc briefed the board on May 19 about a Quad‑County Extension meeting (Morrison, Stearns, Sherburne and Benton) in which Sterns County provided notice it intends to reduce its contribution to the quad‑county educator pool. LeBlanc said the current contract supports four full‑time educators shared among the four counties and that Sterns proposed reducing its portion (the meeting referenced Sterns moving toward roughly 1.55 FTE from 2.2 FTE). Morrison County’s contractual share is 0.55 FTE.
LeBlanc said options discussed by the counties include: (1) maintain a four‑educator model and cover the gap by reallocating contributions, (2) reduce the educator pool to three full‑time equivalents and split costs across counties, or (3) preserve the existing allocations but create a part‑time specialist (for example to support master gardener programs) to cover high‑demand areas. He noted some counties have often operated short a full educator in practice and that extension usage patterns have shifted (more field outreach and specialist services, less telephone‑centered work), affecting the applicability of historic workload formulas.
Commissioner Winter and other board members asked administrators to request service‑level data and usage metrics from the extension partners and to explore options that would minimize burnout of existing educators. LeBlanc said he expects the matter to return to county boards before 2027 budget decisions are finalized.
Why it matters: the change could reduce local extension capacity for horticulture, master gardener support, and small‑farm programming that Morrison County has emphasized. Commissioners discussed possible reallocation strategies to preserve core services.
Next steps: county administrators will gather the requested service and staffing data from the Quad‑County partners, evaluate cost and program impacts, and report back with options for the board to consider before finalizing 2027 budgets.
