County receives strong audit, completes long agenda

Members of the Waseca County board of commissioners plowed their way through a hefty agenda during their Oct. 6 meeting. Numerous actions and decisions from the day are summarized in separate articles which appear in this week’s edition.

 

Among actions not addressed elsewhere, board members approved a report from Amanda Mboga of auditing company Baker Tilly, who informed them the company had issued an “unmodified” report regarding the county’s 2025 finances.

 

Despite its neutral-sounding name, Mboga said classifying a set of books as unmodified is the strongest statement of accuracy an auditor provides. It indicates no errors or discrepancies were found in the records. Mboga also commented that the county has very healthy finances, having made only limited use of credit and keeping a significant level of funding in its general fund.

 

When it comes to public agencies, a general fund is an amount of money that has not yet been designated for spending, and which could, if necessary, allow the county to continue operating for a time, even if all outside sources of funding were not delivered. Mboga told commissioners the state recommends that counties keep a value equal to about 38 percent of their annual budgets in the general fund, which would allow roughly five months of independent operation. Waseca County, she said, averaged 48 percent, well above the state recommendation.

 

During the public comment portion of the meeting, board members heard from New Richland area resident Rick Schultz, who presented a detailed suggestion for routing water around New Richland to the north, rather than to the south as has been described by county leadership.

 

Schultz showed a map of the New Richland area and summarized information about the elevations of various features. Routing water to the north, he suggested, might be a better way to prevent future flooding in New Richland because it makes more efficient use of existing topographical conditions.

 

Commissioners approved a proclamation naming Oct. 4 to 10 as “4-H Week” in the county. The proclamation also recognized that 2026 begins the one-hundredth year 4-H has been active in the county, and praised the organization for its role of “empowering youth with the skills they need to lead for a lifetime.”

 

Amy Nelson, the University of Minnesota Extension Educator for 4-H Youth Development in the county, shared that numerous events and celebrations are planned in the coming months to mark the anniversary, including a return of the “Share the Fun” event this spring.

 

Commissioners received a memorandum from the Courthouse Safety Committee which expressed concern that Waseca’s is the only courthouse in the Third Judicial District where people enter the building without any sort of security screening. The memo pointed out the county received a grant, and has already acquired a metal detector for that purpose. It requested that commissioners move forward with steps to ensure the equipment can be set up and used. This would include providing funding, so the sheriff’s department could assign a staff member to operate the security station.

 

Consultant Renae Kuehl informed commissioners that she is part of a team helping to update the county’s roadway safety plan, which was last updated in 2012. Kuehl provided a summary of severe “crashes” which have occurred in the county in the past five years, explaining that the Minnesota Department of Transportation focuses on updating roadway conditions with the intent of reducing incidents where victims are either killed or experience life-changing injuries.

 

The efforts are part of the “Toward Zero Deaths” initiative which began in 2003.

 

In a county-wide meeting held the afternoon of Oct. 6, Kuehl led a discussion regarding safety issues encountered by public employees and private citizens who chose to be present. Information regarding that meeting will be summarized in a future edition.