City gets assessment check from county

Brainerd has finally received the full assessment owed on a property for which the city expanded streets and added curb and gutter in 1983.

Council and Safety and Public Works member Bob Olson said the city on Thursday received a check from Crow Wing County for $32,364.

The property, located on College Drive, was tax-forfeited to Crow Wing County in 1993 and purchased from the county by a private party in 2005 for $35,960.

After the purchase the county only gave the city 10 percent of the purchase price, or $3,596, and the school district received $7,192.

At the council's Jan. 19 meeting, council member Bob Olson made a motion directing City Attorney Tom Fitzpatrick to request the rest of the money owed for the assessments due on the property, $32,364, from the county.

Olson said by state statute the city was entitled to that money. He had made a motion to go after the due assessments in 2007 but his motion wasn't seconded.

"We got $32,000, that is going to help us," Olson said.

In a memo to council members from City Administrator Dan Vogt, Vogt said Crow Wing County Administrator Tim Houle told him in an e-mail Jan. 28 that if an administrative error occurred in the way the settlement was handled, it would be corrected and state statute followed.

MATT ERICKSON may be reached at matt.erickson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5857.