Commissioner Johnston seeks re-election
Current County Commissioner Laurie Johnston has thrown her hat in the ring once again for a re-election bid. After serving as commissioner for the past five years, of her six-year term, Johnston said the job has really opened her eyes to the problems facing Mineral County.
“The fact that the Federal and State governments own over 90 percent of the land in Mineral County, then you add in Weyerhaueser, you only have 7 percent private land that are being taxed,” she said. “How can we run a county on that?”
The county is supposed to receive government funds from Secure Rural Schools and Payment in Lieu of Fund or PILT. Secure Rural Schools helps support counties that rely on federal timber sale revenue. Over recent years timber production has declined on federal lands, taking income with it.
PILT is money the county is supposed to receive from the government not paying taxes. It offsets losses in tax revenue due to the presence of substantial federal land acreage within specific jurisdictions.
These funds are not mandatory and remain a discretionary program which is subject to the annual appropriations process. Which has been a dicey call in the past with commissioners often holding their breath to see if the county will be able to operation another year if funds are approved. Johnston said these funds have not been reauthorized yet this year and could have a devastating effect on the county.
Balancing the budget is always a major point of contention, “we only have a limited amount of money to fund the whole county, it is not an easy job.”
“Our law enforcement is already stretched to the max. With the number of drugs, family member assaults, child abuse cases, on top of everything else happening in our county, they are busy. This leads to a huge case load for the county attorney, district and justice courts. So the county is continuing to “rob from Peter to pay Paul”, she said.
Despite the constant struggle to balance the budget, Johnston said she loves her job and working with, “the most amazing, hard-working individuals who really care about this county.”
She enjoys being involved with the various boards, committees and coalitions she sits on in the county and region. During her career she worked at Tricon mill for 20 years and didn’t have time to get involved with what was happening within the county.
Now she has the time, “I just hope and pray that I am making a difference. I may be the commissioner for the Central District but I feel that I am everyone’s commissioner and that they can come to me or call me anytime. I look forward to serving the rest of my term and hopefully another 6 years.”