County Auditor's Role

As part of my responsibilities as the Sherburne County Auditor, I serve in the essential role of Chief Election Administrator for the County. My commitment is to ensure that we conduct secure, accurate, and transparent elections in the county.

Election security is a priority for me, as I strive to maintain public confidence in election results through accountability, rigorous audits, and nonpartisan election administration.

It’s important for voters to understand that this position encompasses more than just election administration; there are several other critical duties this office is responsible for.

The many duties of the Auditor are all statutorily assigned by the State of Minnesota. You can find the Auditor/Treasurer manual linked below, which contains over 300 pages detailing these duties. Interestingly, there are also some informal responsibilities that the Sherburne County Auditor manages, such as paying out gopher bounties—who knew that fun fact?

**Basic Duties of the County Auditor**

The responsibilities of the county auditor can vary by county, influenced by the decisions made by the county board. Duties performed by county auditors are described in Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 384, and may include:

- Acting as clerk to the county board, responsible for preparing and maintaining minutes and the annual financial statement.

- Maintaining the official financial records for the county, including ledger journals.

- Signing all warrants issued against the county and overseeing the monthly trial balance.

- Serving as the recipient of all bids for county construction projects, equipment, and services.

- Calculating tax capacity rates for all taxing jurisdictions in the county and computing the tax for each property.

- Sending Truth-in-Taxation and annual tax statements to taxpayers.

- Collecting delinquent taxes and distributing collections to the appropriate taxing districts.

- Researching the legality of and initiating Confessions of Judgment related to tax payments.

- Collaborating on property tax credits and deferring taxes for qualifying Agricultural Preserve Programs and the Green Acres Program.

- Collecting special assessments for municipalities and distributing collections to the correct taxing authority.

- Overseeing the preparation and issuance of tax abatements in partnership with the assessor.

- Identifying, tracking, and implementing legal proceedings for tax forfeitures and conducting tax forfeited land sales.

- Engaging with the Department of Natural Resources regarding lease lots, state leases, forestry issues, and severed minerals.

- Issuing tax certificates indicating payment status under the seal of the office.

- Completing auditor’s certificates for requesting entities with relevant taxing information.

- Administering the fiscal disparities program, calculating contributions, and redistributing aid.

- Handling all aspects of tax increment financing.

- Keeping up-to-date records on each parcel of land in the county, including legal descriptions, ownership, and any transfers, sales, splits, or mortgages.

- Recording all county and judicial ditch proceedings and assessing payments ordered by the ditch board.

- Acting as the Chief Election Administrator for the county.

- Serving as the deputy registrar for the county.

- Administering vital statistics.

- Issuing various licenses such as liquor, wine, beer, auctioneer, dance, dangerous dog, charitable gambling, and other licenses deemed appropriate by the county.

- Serving as a member of the Board of Equalization, Canvassing Board, and Secretary of the Extension Committee.

This list highlights just some of the typical duties a county auditor may be required to perform. Additionally, every auditor handles numerous personnel responsibilities.

With 12 years of experience at Sherburne County, I have gained the knowledge, skills, and resources necessary to successfully fulfill these important duties. It is essential to understand the full scope of responsibilities in this role to ensure proper oversight of the county's finances and effectively safeguard taxpayer dollars.