By Sara Quam
Rock County's payments to keep extension educators on staff could increase if the University of Minnesota Extension Service has its way.
Right now, the county pays 25.78 percent of the average statewide educator's salary. In the year 2000 that amounted to $28,886.
It should be paying 30 percent, which is what the county signed on to pay in 1992. But now the University of Minnesota wants Rock County, along with all Minnesota counties, to pay 40 percent.
The Rock County Board of Commissioners took no action in its meeting Tuesday but discussed the issue with extension office employees.
County Administrator Kyle Oldre said, "I think that it was a negotiated agreement in '92 and we should go by that number."
Under the U of M's new proposal, all Minnesota counties would pay 40 percent of the average extension educator's salary. The current payment schedule isn't uniform, instead based on a county's size and budget.
If the new proposal meets approval, Rock County would see a $16,000 increase over six years. A few counties in the metropolitan area will actually pay less than they are under the current system.
The increased contribution from counties wouldn't mean a pay raise for educators, but would shift some of the burden from the state.
Commissioner Bob Jarchow questioned the validity of the University's proposal. He said the state is considering setting levy limits, and Rock County would have a difficult time meeting this payment without levy increases.
In related extension news, Extension Educator Barb Radke recently turned in her resignation.
Before that position is filled, the Extension Committee and County Board wanted to get a feeling for what direction to take in the extension office with this possible budget increase.
That's why Dave Werner, University of Minnesota Extension Southwest District Director, was present for discussion at the meeting.
He said that 79 of Minnesota's 87 counties are not paying their designated percentage now. That means the program is running at a deficit of $345,000 that will increase to $450,000 if not addressed.
Werner said that now is a good time to assess the county's needs. "One of the options - one that I'm not too excited about - is eliminating positions. There's a hundred other options, and I'm willing to work on any of those. I will do whatever I can to work with you."
Extension Committee Chairman Gary Overgaard said to the board, "You're going to have to tell us whether we're going to have to make the cuts."
Commissioner Jane Wildung. "It makes sense, to me, to analyze what our needs are for the county in the long run before we look at money."
Wildung said extension services have been valuable to the Rock County Collaborative. "Extension does a lot of Collaborative work. It takes a long time to get prevention programs up and running before there's a benefit on the cure side. We know that prevention in healthcare works, and we're trying to do the same thing on other issues, because you canÕt throw enough money at some of the problems."
Wildung said the skills that extension educators have is hard to find. "The talent needed for some of the educational elements isn't necessarily found in-house in county departments."
Extension Educator Fraser Norton said, "If there's anything you see we need to be doing that we currently aren't, we can try to come up with something."