A Good Today; A Better Tomorrow

Olmsted County has a population of about 164,000.  Olmsted projected growth will take us to a population of 250,000 in the near future.  We live in a county that is an envy of many of the counties in Minnesota and the country.  We are fortunate that we have had County Boards that were innovative and visionary that set the foundation for our current and future well-being.  There is still work to be done to ensure that everyone can share in the vibrant life that Olmsted has to offer and to create a social environment that will be attractive to the business community.  The challenge to all of us is to keep us on a path to improve the lives of all of our residents.

 

The median household income in Olmsted is $90,452.  9,170 earn more than $200,000.  5,382 households earn less than $20,000.

• 28,672 are over age 65.
• 13,183 of our residents live below the poverty line.
• 18,785 of our residents were not born in the U.S.
• 10,546 under the age of 65 have a physical disability
• 6,756 under age 65 do not have health insurance
• 8,997 are in need of treatment for substance abuse
• 46,634 have dealt with depression or anxiety in the past year

 

2025 Legislative Priorities (Bonding requests)

Materials Recovery Facility (about $19 million)

• Olmsted is asking for support to construct and equip a facility that will sort trash into recoverable components.  This would allow the county to sell more reusable products such as aluminum cans, glass, tin cans, and other material.  It will also prevent
  non-combustible trash from entering the combustion chamber which will reduce carbon released into the air and extend the life of combustion chambers which will reduce the cost of maintenance

Integrated Resource Recovery System Future Enhancements (about $16 million)

• Olmsted is asking for state capital investment to improve community reuse and recycling, help to purchase food waste separation equipment, and predesign money for engineering and environmental analysis for carbon capture (reduce greenhouse gases).

Interchanges at County Roads 3 and 5 on Highway 14 (about $8 million.

• Highway 14 from Byron to Rochester is the last segment to be upgraded.  These intersections are east of Byron.  Olmsted is working with the city of Byron and Dodge County to procure the funds for this upgrade.

Southeast Regional Ground Water Protection and Soil Health Initiative ($9 million)

• This request would implement a long-term strategy to reduce nitrates in the ground water.  This is for the entire Southeast Region (11 counties) and would build on the success that Olmsted County has already achieved.

Construction Materials and Equipment State Sales Tax Exemption ($800,000)

• Olmsted is asking for exemption from sales tax for the construction of the multipurpose building at Graham Park.

Lake Zumbro Park (about $2 million)

• This state request would allow Olmsted to upgrade the fishing pier, docks, parking, bathrooms, and public areas at Lake Zumbro.  The facility at Lake Zumbro has increased in use since Olmsted purchased Fisherman’s Inn several years ago.  It needs to be improved to accommodate the increase in use.

Other Requests that Impact all Counties include:

• Expanding mental health services
• Computer technology modernization to bring the state data bases and useability up to modern capabilities (and replace the old DOS based systems).
• Assistance to clean up tax forfeited properties.  These are properties that have been polluted and then abandoned by previous owners.