County plans stricter stance with special districts

Monitoring the many special districts that are active within the county is becoming an increasing burden, according to County Clerk Linda Fritz. On Wednesday, she asked the county commission to become more forceful in requesting that every district meets its deadlines and submits all relevant documentation.

“They need to follow the law,” explained Fritz as she told the commissioners that her office tries to monitor the districts and provide them with the information they need about the deadlines that apply to them.

“But even though we send them this, we’re still chasing them down to get what we need.”

Attempting to keep track of district minutes and other submission deadlines is “overwhelming” when it must be done on top of the office’s own duties, said Fritz.

In response, Commissioner Kelly Dennis suggested creating a “cheat sheet” that districts could follow to make sure they are submitting all documents. Fritz put forth the idea that it might also be advantageous to introduce one more required board training class.

If a board has any new members since the year before or has elected new officers, Fritz suggested a training that outlines such things as how to prepare a budget; when and if an audit is needed; handling grants and other financials; and the state’s deadlines for submitting minutes and other documents.

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with saying, ‘you will have at least one board member at a board training’,” Fritz said.

There are other aspects of special districts that newcomers may not understand, pointed out Commissioner Jeanne Whalen. Service and improvement districts, for example, have the ability to place liens on a member’s property.

“You are committing your land to some of these districts and, if you don’t pay your fees, they can sell your land right from underneath you,” said Whalen.

It’s important for someone who becomes a member of such a district knows what signing their name means, she said, and that means the board needs to be made aware.

“I think someone on that board better realize how serious this stuff is,” she said.

Board members hold a certain amount of power over the people who belong to the district, Fritz agreed, such as having the ability to dissolve it entirely.

Training could be done with the assistance of representatives from the treasurer, clerk and attorney’s offices, Fritz said. The commissioners could mandate that every special district is represented.

“Or you’re not getting your money,” agreed Whalen.

Fritz requested that the commissioners take, “A more active, forceful role.” Whalen, however, said she is no longer willing to sit with district board members and go over their budgets line by line.

Fritz agreed that’s not something the commission should have to do, but said she is more interested in the rules and deadlines being enforced.

“We won’t help them put their budgets together, but we’ll make sure they do,” she said.

County Attorney Joe Baron said that some boards are already doing a great job of keeping up with deadlines and submitting all relevant records. However, he suggested that every board be required to come in and visit with the commissioners once per year, likely during regular session.

“At least once a year, they ought to come in and see you guys, just to make sure that they’re doing what they need to be doing,” Baron said.

Dennis agreed that an informational session each spring could be beneficial. Commissioner Fred Devish added that it would be helpful for every district to submit a current list of its board members, because the county does not have this information available for every district.

Said Whalen, a training can “drill down to what’s important,” explaining what the responsibilities of a board member are and why they are important. For example, the reason for writing minutes, she said, is so that a board five years from now can look back and see what decisions were made and how.

Special districts in Crook County range from those taking specific roles in the management of county needs, such as the medical services, museum, natural resource and predatory control districts, to improvement and service districts for subdivisions such as Vista West, Tower Ridge, Sundance Canyon Ranch, Kara Circle & Windy Way, to water districts such as Aladdin.