Election 2020: Benton County Commissioner District 5
MINDEN TOWNSHIP -- In the upcoming November election, Benton County Commissioner Jake Bauerly is looking to hold off challenger Beth Schlangen to retain his seat in District 5.
Bauerly says the board has been working hard over the last several years to lower the county's tax rate while focusing on economic development. Bauerly says they've done so by enacting spending freezes and finding efficiencies...
In 2013 when I came on the board we were the 5th-highest taxed county in the state of Minnesota and had the 5th lowest tax capacity. In 2016 we started the Benton County Economic Partnership and that helped, but mainly what we did was we froze out spending over the next eight years. We cut our tax rate 22% over eight years.
Bauerly is proud they were able to cut the county's tax rate to become more competitive with adjacent counties.
Schlangen says she wants the opportunity to serve the people of Benton County and to deliver the programs residents deserve. She'd also like to work on redeveloping St. Cloud's east side...
We need to make sure we have the services available for our community and our residents. I know there is a lot of homelessness and a lot of dilapidated housing. We have the east side (of St. Cloud) that needs to be rebuilt.
District 5 is in Minden Township and includes portions of Sauk Rapids and East St. Cloud.