Election 2014: Benton County Commissioner – District 3 [AUDIO]

SAUK RAPIDS -- Today on WJON we take a look at the race for Benton County Commissioner District 3 as part of our Election 2014 preview.

Benton County's tax rate is a popular campaign issue for candidates for Benton County commissioner.

District 3 incumbent Jim McMahon says Benton County's tax rate is 6th highest in all of Minnesota. If he's re-elected, he wants to work to lower that tax rate to ease the burden on residents and businesses...

Challenger Brad Gunderson is the current mayor for the city of Sauk Rapids. Gunderson says he wants to serve as a commissioner to lower the tax rate, but also fund road projects at a higher level...

The fight for road construction dollars is also shaping up as a hot-button issue in the race.  McMahon says residents are telling him they want funding for roads...and he agrees...

Gunderson says he wants to see Benton County take care of county road projects like the "3 Up the Hill" project in Sauk Rapids. He says projects like that need to be completed to attract more businesses to the county...

Gunderson says it's important for commissioners to lobby state lawmakers to bring money back to local communities. McMahon says lowering Benton County's tax rate is a priority for him because it currently sits as the sixth highest in the state.